


When the Dust Clears

by SociallyAwkwardFox (Maze_Runner_Fae)



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Developing Relationship, Fix-It, M/M, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-13
Updated: 2016-07-08
Packaged: 2018-06-08 03:53:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6838042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maze_Runner_Fae/pseuds/SociallyAwkwardFox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the aftermath of the war, people on both sides are left trying to pick up the pieces. Trusts have been broken, friendships are in shambles, lines have been blurred. Unbeknownst to the rest of the world, the Wakandans have agreed to shelter Captain America and his followers. Things seem to be at a tipping point.</p><p>Steve is left struggling with regret over how things ended in Siberia with Tony and wants nothing more than to make things right. On a completely different continent, Tony is left to deal with Ross and the guilt he feels over what happened to the people he cares about most in the world. Meanwhile, Hydra remains an ever present threat that continues to grow stronger. If left unchecked, people could be in more danger than ever before.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Steve

**Author's Note:**

> Unsurprisingly, Civil War left me with a lot of jumbled up feelings that naturally lead to me needing to writing something in response. Normally I don't upload a multi-chapter fic unless I'm completely finished with it, but this time I've decided to wing it. The plan is to switch between Steve POV and Tony POV, but I'm more than willing to take any suggestions. Hope you all enjoy!

Steve tapped his pencil mindlessly against the notebook he had sitting in his lap as he gazed out the window at the Wakandan jungle. He’d already drawn the view seventeen times from every angle possible in the small common area that T’Challa had so kindly provided them with. There was even one of Clint perched lazily in one of the taller trees looking completely comfortable in such a foreign land. Saying Steve was inexplicably bored would be a complete understatement, not that he would ever disrespect T’Challa’s generous hospitality by saying so.

In all honesty, Steve was pretty sure T’Challa could have provided them with the most incredible distractions ever and Steve still would have been bored. Ever since Bucky had decided to go back into cryo, Steve had nothing but time to think about everything that had happened. The letter he had written to Tony helped to sort out some of the swirling emotions he had been struggling with, but there was still a lot left unsaid. A huge part of Steve had really hoped that Tony would call sooner rather than later so they could start trying to rebuild everything they had broken in the past couple of weeks.

There was no doubt in Steve’s mind that the others knew exactly why he spent all his time drawing in his notebook with an old flip phone in reach at all times. He had expected one of them to call him out for it, especially after Natasha turned up two days after they arrived, but none of them made any mention of it. The one time Scott had nearly said something about it, Sam had kicked the other man so hard under the table he fell out of his chair. A large part of Steve was grateful that the others were keeping their comments about Tony to a minimum around him, a different part wished the others would stop tiptoeing around him like he might spontaneously combust at any second.

With a barely audible sigh, Steve set his pencil down on his notebook and moved his attention away from the peaceful jungle beyond the window. He was more than a little surprised to see Wanda curled comfortably up on the small part of the window seat Steve wasn’t taking up. Her eyes were focused so intently on Steve that he actually had to fight the urge to shift awkward under her gaze. From the upward tilt of her lips, it must have been pretty obvious how uncomfortable Steve was suddenly finding himself under Wanda’s watchful eyes.

“The others are attempting to educate the Wakandans on the wonders of pizza. Natasha thought you might like to join us.”

“Of course. Let me just put this stuff away.”

Wanda tapped her nails thoughtfully against her knees as she watched Steve gather up the small number of pencils T’Challa had so kindly given him. “You miss him.”

“Of course I do. He’s my best friend.”

“It is not Barnes I refer to.” Wanda gently removed the art supplies from Steve’s hands so the super soldier wouldn’t accidently bend the pages or snap the pencils. “At first, I did not understand your relationship. On the surface, the two of you are so different it would seem impossible for you to get along. I do not pretend to understand the nature of your relationship, but I now understand that the two of you have much in common. I do not doubt that he misses you just as fiercely.”

“Maybe he would have before, but now I’m not so sure.”

“What is it you kept from him?”

“How did you know that?”

“When I first got these powers, it was difficult to control whether or not I was looking into people’s heads. I have spent much time learning how to block things out, but sometimes people think loudly and I find myself listening without meaning to. Your distress has intensified your thoughts. As soon as I realized what was happening I made sure to block them better, but somethings still slipped through. So what is it you kept from him? Stark understands the need for forgiveness better than most.”

Steve ran a slightly trembling hand through his hair as a momentary distraction. “Tony can forgive a lot of things, but asking him to forgive this is too much.”

“You’d be surprised how much people are willing to forgive when the person who wronged them is someone they love. Speak with Natasha or Sam, I’m sure they would tell you the same and it might help to alleviate the heavy burden on your chest to tell someone what happened.”

“You’re probably right. Thank you, Wanda.”

“You’re most welcome.” Wanda carefully handed Steve back his things, but didn’t make any move to get up from the window seat. “There is something I would like to ask you. It is… personal and I do not expect you to answer if it makes you uncomfortable.”

“Go ahead. I don’t mind.”

“What was your relationship with Stark?”

“What do you think it was?”

“I think you wanted us to believe it was nothing more than professional in nature. Maybe even friends of circumstance from time to time.”

“But?”

“When there were doubts, you looked towards each other for stability. Around him you were always more relaxed like you didn’t have to worry about being the perfect soldier. Both of you smiled more in the presence of the other. It could be because the two of you have formed a strong friendship, but something in your eyes always made me think differently.”

“And what did you think?”

A small, smooth hand gently squeezed Steve’s hand until he lifted his eyes back up to the young woman in front of him. “It seemed to me that the two of you were in love or at least on the path to love.”

“Tony was with Pepper.”

“Their relationship was failing before I even met the Avengers. Do you know what I saw when I showed him his greatest fear?”

“If Tony wanted me to know, he would have told me himself.”

“You are an honorable man so I will respect your wishes.”

Steve nodded his head stiffly as his stood up from the window seat with his art supplies clutched securely to his broad chest. He could feel the sharp point of one of his pencils digging uncomfortably into the shirt covered skin of his chest. His feet carried him to the door on autopilot like all those fancy jets Tony’s had designed for the Avengers to use. The cool metal of the doorknob was pressed against his hand before he finally worked up the nerve to look back at Wanda.

“Tony and I were never…” Steve struggled to come up with the right word to describe where things had been heading before the war torn them apart, but nothing that came to mind seemed enough. “Tony and I were friends. We were only ever friends.”

* * *

 

“They say a watched pot never boils. I think the same concept applies to phones.” Natasha gracefully swung herself up next to Steve on the small alcove he had managed to find near the top of the building they were staying in. “Wanda seems to think she’s driven you into hiding. She wouldn’t tell me what the two of you talked about, but if it has you this upset it could only be one thing. Clint’s going to be so jealous that you managed to find this place before he did.”

“Why did you try so hard to find me a date? When we were still working with S.H.I.E.L.D., you would always bug me about going a dates. I never understood why you tried so hard.”

“Remember when I told you you’re a terrible liar?”

“How could I forget?”

“You wear your heart on your sleeve. It makes it easy to get a read on you.”

“So you knew.”

Natasha nodded her head minutely then turned her attention to the jungle before she started speaking again. “I knew. I also knew how Tony was with Pepper. I didn’t want your feelings to get hurt so I thought it would be better to introduce you to someone that wasn’t already in a relationship.”

“Why did you stop?”

“Found out Tony wasn’t as out of your reach as he had been before. I expected you to make a move. Didn’t think it would be on Sharon.”

“Sam told you about that?”

“He’s quite proud of his boy.” A small chuckle escaped Natasha’s throat, probably because she was remembering whatever ridiculous thing Sam had said. “He seems to think the two of you will find some way to ride off into the sunset together. I figured you should be the one to tell him.”

“Should it concern me that all of you are so invested in my dating life?”

“We just want you to be happy. You deserve to be happy.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“People make mistakes. That’s what apologies and flowers are for.”

“He’d never forgive me.”

“Why? You sound pretty sure of yourself.”

Steve pulled his legs in and leaned his back against the side of the small alcove then waited for Natasha to do the same before he spoke. “I kept something from him. I told myself I was keeping it from him to spare him the pain, but I know it was really because I didn’t want to risk losing Bucky again. I should have told him. He deserved to know and I was too selfish to tell him.”

“What didn’t you tell him?”

“You already know. I know you do.”

“Yes, but you need to get this off your chest. It’s eating you up, Rogers. Trust me, you’re not going to be able to start moving on until you admit it.”

“I know.” The heavy weight that had been pressing down on his chest since Siberia felt heavier than ever as he tried to take a deep breath. “I knew the Winter Soldier killed Tony’s parents and never told him. When we were in Siberia, Zemo showed Tony the footage from a camera that Hydra must have gotten their hands on later. He had to watch both of his parents murdered and the first thing he asked me afterwards was whether I knew or not.”

“What did you say?”

“That I knew Hydra was behind it, but I had no idea what happened. He knew I was lying. Guess I really am a bad liar.”

“He’ll forgive you.”

“You didn’t see the look on his face when he found out. He was furious and he had every right to be.”

“The ripped off arm made that pretty obvious, but he won’t stay mad forever. Tony was blinded by his emotions in the moment. I’m sure he’s already thought about what happened and knows that Barnes is just as much a victim of Hydra as his parents. People don’t call him a genius for no reason.”

“That doesn’t mean he’ll be willing to forgive me. I broke his trust.”

“So earn it back. If your relationship with Tony means that much to you, it won’t matter how much time and effort it takes because having him in your life is more important.”

“Not exactly easy to do when we’re not even talking.”

The phone Steve had been nervously messing with was taken out of his hands so quickly he didn’t even have time to try to stop Natasha. “Phones work both ways. I know you’re trying to respect Tony by leaving the decision up to him, but a letter and a burner phone might not be enough to convince Tony you want to get past this. Call him.”

“Where would I even beginning?”

“That’s something you have to figure out for yourself.” Natasha swung her legs back over the side in preparation of returning back through the window she had pulled herself up from. “You should join us for dinner tonight. The others will be glad to see you haven’t brooded yourself to death. They’ve been really worried about you.”

* * *

 

T’Challa struck out quickly with a Vibranium clawed hand that nearly tore open the skin of Steve’s left cheek. A quick foot snapped out in the direction Steve had rolled and was even closer to knocking Steve off balance than the claws had been to destroying his face. Luckily, instinct had kicked in allowing Steve to get a hold of the aforementioned foot before T’Challa could get it back underneath him. He used his strong grip to pull the king off of his feet and into a high arc over Steve’s shoulder.

The Black Panther landed in a neat crouch on the other side of the sparring area with his muscles taut in preparation for another attack. Steve could easily imagine a sleek black tail swaying behind the other man as he carefully considered his options like a true predator. The last thing Steve expected was for the other to man to straighten up without bothering to make a single move forward. His hands reached up to pull the Black Panther helmet from his head then set it carefully on the small table next to the sparring area.

“Your heart is not in the fight.”

“Sorry.”

“Your apology is unnecessary. What troubles your mind?”

“Nothing. Just thinking. I shouldn’t have let it distract me.”

T’Challa hummed in understanding then tucked his helmet under his arms as he motioned for Steve to follow him back. “Emotions are quite powerful. They have the ability to aid in our resolve or weaken it. When we let them run wild, they can drive us on a path that we never intended to travel.”

“You speak from experience.”

“My quest to avenge my father’s death was fuelled by my rage. In the process, I nearly killed an innocent man. I would have been no better than Zemo because I was not in control of my emotions at the time. Going down that road would have been a grave mistake.”

“Is that why you agreed to help us?”

“There are many reasons I agreed to help you. I wish to atone for my mistakes and help an innocent man get his life back. It is the least I can do.”

“We’re grateful for your generosity. Putting yourself and your people on the line for us is more than we could have asked for.” Steve tipped his head up towards the sky and watched a sea of dark clouds drift closer. “It’s going to rain.”

“It would appear so. My people will be glad to see the rain again. It has been a long time since it last came. It will likely last for several days.”

“Clint will be upset to hear that. He’s been enjoying the trees.”

“Quite unfortunate. Ms. Romanoff informed me he can be unbearable when he doesn’t have something to do. It might be good for you though. I find I do my best thinking during these rainy spells. It is relaxing.”

“Maybe. I used to dread the rain. I was always sick before the serum and rain never helped. Normally, I would end up sick for a week afterwards.”

“And now?”

A forlorn smile made its way onto Steve’s face as a drop of rain landed on his face and slide down his nose to the ground below. “Don’t know. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen rain.”

“Perhaps it is just what you need.”

“Perhaps.”

* * *

 

“Look! It’s Captain America.”

“You don’t have to announce his presences every time he walks in a room. We all know who he is.”

Scott shrugged his shoulders in a what-can-you-do manner then focused on the large group of ants making pictures on the table. “You might be used to being around Captain America all the time, but some of us aren’t. What kid didn’t love Captain America?”

“The kind that grew up in a circus.”

“You grew up in a circus? No way. Is this some sort of initiation prank? What was it like? Were their elephants? Did you have a pet elephant?”

“Lang, sometimes I really worry about you.”

“I, too, am curious about your time in the circus.”

“We’re not talking about it.”

“I’ll just ask Natasha later.”

“I thought we were friends, kid.” The chair Clint was sitting on suddenly tipped backwards and sent the archer to the floor before he had time to right himself. “That’s playing dirty. How much training have you done with Nat?”

“Enough. How are you, Captain?”

“Fine. I’ve been enjoying the rain.”

“That makes one of us. I haven’t been outside in days.”

“Just because it’s raining doesn’t mean you can’t go outside. You would be doing us all a favor if you did.”

An offended gasp filled the room as Clint clutched a hand over his heart and pointed an accusatory finger at an apathetic Natasha. “How rude. You know I don’t go out in the rain unless I absolutely have to.”

“If I find you reorganizing my room again, you’re going to have no other choice.”

“I finished organizing mine.”

“Find something else to do. I’m not one of your kids. Why don’t you ask Steve to teach you to draw?”

“My artistic abilities begin and end with lopsided stick figures.”

“We could try to track down more Hydra bases.” Sam sent a hopefully look Steve’s way, even though he already knew what the Captain would say. “I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but I actually miss tracking them down.”

“You know we can’t. Doing recon is too risky. One of us could be recognized and compromise the group as a whole. T’Challa is doing what he can to track down Hydra without Ross getting suspicious. We wait for him to come to us with something.”

“I don’t think waiting around is any of our strong suits.”

“I know, but we have to play this safe. Take the time to train and get to know each other better. When we do finally get back into the field, we need to be able to work as a cohesive unit. That takes time to develop.”

“When do we start, Cap?”

* * *

 

Blood thundered through Steve’s veins as he pushed his legs and arms to pump faster and faster until it felt like they were going to pop out of socket. The burning in his lungs was making his throat squeeze painfully with every attempt to suck in more air. Air rushed past Steve’s ears blocking out all the sounds that normally filled the jungle with so much life. He couldn’t hear the sound of leaves crunching under his feet or birds chirping at each other in that annoying trill that would always drive Tony insane whenever he came to visit them at the compound.

Steve was so lost in his own head that he almost missed Sam resting with his back pressed against a tall tree in a sweat soaked shirt. The other man sent him a bright grin as Steve slowed to a complete stop in front of him like he had in D.C. before Natasha had whisked him away on a mission. He remained completely silent while Steve eased his sore body down on the ground with a small groan at the painful twinge.

“I didn’t think you got sore unless you get shot or fall out of thirty story building.”

“So did I. Guess we were both wrong.”

“Any particular reason you’re out here trying to kill all the feeling in your body?”

“Needed a change of scenery.” Steve chugged down most of the water Sam had handed him so he had time to formulate what he was going to say next. “I thought it might help me to work out some things.”

“Did it?”

“Not really.”

“Can’t say I’m surprised. It looked a whole hell of a lot like you were trying to outrun your problems. I know you’re Captain America and all, but even you can’t run that fast.”

“You gonna offer to lend me an ear.”

A chuckle rocked through Sam’s body and caused the corner of his eyes to crinkle up in amusement. “Heard that Natasha already talked to you, but I’m more than willing to listen. Can’t say I’m not curious about what happened in Siberia. Stark was pretty sincere when he came to the Raft asking for your location.”

“He was. He helped us locate Zemo, but things didn’t exactly happen the way we all expected it to.”

“What happened?”

“Zemo was never interested in the other super soldiers. He went to Siberia looking for information on the Winter Soldier’s past assignments, specifically the op from December 16, 1991. He wanted to tear the team apart from the inside and he did.”

“What’s so special about that op?”

“Did you know that on December 16, 1991 Tony’s parents died in a car accident?” Instead of answering out loud, Sam just shook his head no and allowed Steve to continue without interruption. “Hydra wanted Howard out of the way so they sent the Winter Soldier to do their dirty work for them. After running the car off the road, the Winter Soldier beat Howard’s face in then choked Maria.”

“Tony had no idea.”

“No.”

“And you never told him.”

Steve jerkily shook his head and sucked in several shaky breaths in an attempt to calm himself back down. “I know I should have, but every time I found myself about to tell him I’d find a reason not to.”

“Having to tell someone an ugly truth is never easy.”

“That doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be done.”

“No, it doesn’t. Is that what the letter was about? An apology for not telling him.”

“Yes. I also wanted to make sure he knew I would still come to help him if he needs it.”

“Well that explains why you’ve practically been sleeping with that fossil. I’m assuming he hasn’t found a reason to call yet.”

“Not yet.”

“Give him time. It’s a lot to process and with what happened to Colonel Rhodes he’s probably got a lot on his plate right now.”

“At this point, I’ve got nothing but time.”

“True.” Sam held out an expectant hand that Steve took in one of his own to help him off of the jungle floor. “You think Natasha has shoved Clint out a window by now?”

“I doubt Clint will need much encouragement since the rain finally stopped. He’s probably already picked out a tree to spend the day in.”

“I hate to break this to you, but you’ve got some of the weirdest friends.”

“They’re your friends now, too.”

“Don’t remind me.”

* * *

 

“What is this meeting for?” Clint tossed the small ball he had seemingly managed to pull out of thin air up for the hundredth time since the group arrived in the board room. “This is definitely one of the things I didn’t miss while I was retired.”

“T’Challa didn’t say, but I’m sure it’s important. He’s a busy man. He doesn’t have time to waste.”

“Busy or not, he’s late.”

The heavy door to the board room clicked shut behind the Wakandan king, who was dressed in a dark suit instead of his Black Panther armor. “I apologize for my tardiness. My previous engagement ran over.”

“We completely understand. We’re very appreciative that you’re taking the time out of your day for this meeting.”

“Of course. I’ll get right to it. As promised, my people have been looking into fixing the Hydra programming used on Sergeant Barnes. We believe we have a way to get one step closer to figuring it out.”

“What would that be?” When Steve glanced over at Natasha, he wasn’t surprised to see that her arms were firmly crossed over her chest and her eyebrows were slightly raised in skepticism. “I’ve had experience with memory manipulation before. There’s never an easy solution.”

“That is very true, Ms. Romanoff. We have not come up with a solution. What we have found is something that could give us inside information on how Hydra performed their conditioning on Sergeant Barnes.”

“How is that possible? The notebook only had the phrases used to trigger the Winter Soldier, not how they did it.”

“At a lecture at MIT, Mr. Stark demonstrated a device that could tap into a person’s memories so they could change them. The device could potentially be used to access what the Winter Soldier remembers of his condition and give us insight into undoing it.”

“Not to burst any bubbles, but I doubt Stark is just going to hand over his fancy mind device.”

“You are most likely correct, Mr. Lang.”

“So someone’s stealing it?”

T’Challa shook his head and appeared to be faintly amused that his negative answer caused Scott’s shoulders to deflate. “Mr. Stark only made one version of the device. He is also the only one that knows how to use it properly. We will need his help.”

“No.”

“Captain Rogers, I understand your objections. However, it is imperative that we have Mr. Stark here if we are to succeed in understanding what Hydra has done.”

“I can’t ask him to do this. It isn’t fair to him.”

“You will not be asking him. I will. There is a meeting to amend the Accords next week that I must attend. I will take the opportunity to ask for Mr. Stark’s help. Now, I have another meeting to attend. It was a pleasure as always.”

The moment the door shut behind T’Challa’s retreating back, Steve turned to look at Natasha with desperate blue eyes. “Tony shouldn’t have to do this.”

“You know he will.”

“He’s been through enough.”

“He’ll do it anyways.”

“Asking this is too much.”

“You’ll just have more to apologize for. Better start writing it out.”

“I don’t want him to do this. The Winter Soldier has already taken enough from him. There’s no way around this, is there?” Natasha stood from her seat and crossed the room to give Steve’s shoulder a firm squeeze then left the room with a pinched expression on her face.


	2. Tony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony deals with Ross after his failure to bring in Steve and the release of the ex-Avengers from the Raft. Rhodey and Vision do their best to help Tony deal with all the new information that has come to light. T'Challa seeks out Tony for a business deal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise I don't plan on always uploading at two in the morning, but I figured it'd be better to go ahead and post the chapter rather than sitting on it. Feel free to leave me suggestions or questions about the story. I'll try to answer them as quickly as possible. Hope you all enjoy.

“You can do it. Come on. Come to me!”

“Put your arms down or I’ll remove them.” Heavy pants broke up the threat Rhodey threw Tony’s way making it a lot less intimidating than Rhodey intended it to be. “You’ve been watching too much TV again.”

“It works on all those cute, little babies.”

“You know; no one ever believes me when I tell them you say shit like that.”

“Good. Can’t have you ruining my reputation. I worked hard for that.”

“I don’t think you’re fooling anyone anymore. Damn.”

Rhodey fell to his knees with a small grunt then used his grip on the balance bar to move so his legs were straight out in front of him. He let his back rest against one of the support poles and gladly accepted the bottle of water Tony handed to him. In no time at all, the entire bottle was drained leaving Rhodey still breathing heavily as he watched Tony take a seat across from him on the floor. Tony watched as Rhodey’s hands rubbed absentmindedly at his aching leg muscles with a slight tremble that most people probably would have missed.

“How are you feeling, honey bear?”

“Like my legs are about to fall off.”

“Well I think that means you’re done for today. You went three minutes and twenty-seven seconds longer than yesterday.”

The eye roll Tony got from Rhodey was so impressive the engineer was surprised his eyes didn’t roll right out of their sockets. “Please tell me you don’t have a spreadsheet somewhere titled something ridiculous like Rhodey’s Road to Recovery.”

“Everybody loves a good alliteration.”

“You’re a gigantic dork.” The sound of someone knocking on one of the large windows lining the training room distracted Rhodey from whatever he was about to say next. “What’s he doing here?”

“I was wondering when he would finally decide it was worth his time to come out here. Think he’ll just go away if we pretend he isn’t there?”

“Based on the vein popping out of his forehead, I’d say no. I thought you already looked over the revisions he sent you.”

“I did. He probably didn’t appreciate my response. It was something along the lines of never signing up to lick his boots.”

“Then you ignored all his emails and phone calls.”

Tony sent Rhodey the cheekiest grin he could muster and turned his attention to the fuming man looking just about ready to bust through the window. “He’s already called another meeting with all the countries still backing the Accords. He probably wants me to act as a representative for the Avengers.”

“But he wants you to know your place before you can do anything to compromise his power.”

“The Raft was never written into the Accords. I checked and double checked. There was supposed to be a fair trial if anyone went rogue. I’d be surprised if any of the countries backing the Accord know about the Raft’s existence.”

“So what? You think he might be Hydra.”

“No, but he’s not on our side either. Did you know Bruce used to work with him before the whole giant, green rage monster thing? Ross was the one who put him on the serum project.”

“Foul play?”

“Possibly. I’ll need to do more digging.”

The knocking on the window suddenly increased in violence to the point Tony could actually see the window starting to shake under the force. “Whatever you’re planning on doing, just be careful. Ross is a man with a lot of resources at his disposal. He won’t hesitate to get rid of you if you get in his way.”

“Don’t worry about me, honey bear. I can take care of myself.”

“That remains to be seen.”

* * *

 

Most men would probably tremble at the sight of Thaddeus Ross pacing angrily back and forth in their office like he owned the place. Unlike most men, Tony was raised by a man that could easily give Ross a run for his money and frequently took his anger out on Tony. Suffice to say, the display of hyper-masculine behavior meant to scare him did the exact opposite. The entire time Ross was trying to make Tony feel like he was backed into a corner before the yelling even started, Tony focused his energy on not smiling in amusement.

“Are you aware that we have a meeting in five days and no new revisions approved to present to the many attendants flying in from all over the globe? Revisions that are needed to counteract the fact Captain America managed to break his soldiers out of a prison that is supposed to be impenetrable.”

“That sounds like an accusation.”

“If I had any proof, you’d be locked up so tight the thought of you escaping would be as realistic as pigs flying.”

“Very creative.” Tony pushed himself up from his office chair so he was on a more level field with the other man. “Did you want to talk about something important or are you just wasting both of our time?”

“I have a new set of revisions here that you and the rest of your team will look over and return to me with your suggestions on changes. I also came to make something very clear to you.”

“You expect me to keep my mouth shut about the Raft?”

“The fact you were unable to bring in Captain Rogers has put us at a great disadvantage. If we still had his followers that would be something, but now we don’t even have that. It makes us look incompetent. People aren’t going to be willing to continue supporting us if we can’t do our job properly.”

“They also won’t back you if they know you’ve imprisoned people in a high security prison without a proper trial first. Something clearly spelled out in the Accords.”

Ross narrowed his eyes in frustration and appeared to be fighting the urge to slam his fist down on Tony’s desk. “We were in the middle of an important manhunt. They would have gotten a proper trial when Captain America was brought into custody. Putting them in a regular prison would have been too high risk.”

“The Raft certainly did a better job of keeping them where you wanted them.”

“The circumstances of their escape are still under investigation. Until we know how they managed it, you’ll be keeping your mouth shut. People finding out about the Raft could put our investigation in jeopardy.”

“I didn’t sign the Accords to keep your secrets.”

“No, but you will. The fate of the Avengers rides on the Accords maintaining support from all those backing it. Things might not go so well for you and your companions if the world decides you’re no longer needed.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“See that you do.” Ross dropped a thick stack of papers on Tony’s desk with a fake smile plastered on his face. “I expect this back to me in two days. Make sure you’re at the meeting on time.”

Tony had to bite his tongue to keep from making a snarky retort that would only cause things to become more precarious than they already were. He didn’t even bother suggesting he see the other man out since he knew Ross would find some way to turn the offer into a power play. His hands stayed clinched up at his sides until the sound of shoes clicking against the ground finally disappeared.

* * *

 

The video playing on the holoscreen Tony had set up on his desk suddenly went black at the same time the man on the screen took a shot at the camera the video was from. His finger reached out to rewind the video back to where the Winter Soldier first made his way over to the crashed car. When the man pulled something from the trunk, Tony paused the video to get a better look at whatever the thing was. Based on the shape and size of the thing Tony would guess it was a steel briefcase, but it was hard to tell for sure because of the video quality.

“What were you doing with that case?” Tony drummed his fingers against his desk as he tried to come up with a reason his father would have something that needed transport in a steel briefcase. “You were supposed to be going to a Christmas party so what’s in the case? Something Hydra would want.”

The image of dead super soldiers popped into Tony’s mind causing the gears in his head to turn even faster. It wasn’t a secret that Howard had searched tirelessly until the day he died to find where Steve had crashed. He never once mentioned any interest in finding a way to recreate the serum, only in finding the ally he had lost. Tony couldn’t think of any reason that Howard Stark would be in possession of a new experimental super soldier serum.

“If S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted super soldiers, they would have had Zola working on it. Could be for a military contract. That doesn’t make sense though.”

“Mr. Stark.” Tony nearly jumped out of his chair in surprise at the sound of Vision voice suddenly coming from inside Tony’s office. “I apologize if I frightened you. I saw your light was on and thought it might be best to remind you of the time. What is it you are working on?”

“Nothing really. It’s just a personal thing.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but is that not the Winter Soldier?”

“You’re not wrong.”

Thoughtful eyes took in the frozen video like it was some particularly interesting thing that he happened to stumble across on the internet and not a violent assassin. “What is in the case he is carrying?”

“My best guess is it’s the super soldier serum Hydra used to create the set I saw in Siberia. What I don’t know is why he had it?”

“Who?”

Instead of answering Vision’s question, Tony hit the play button so the rest of the video played out for the android to see. His face remained passive the entire time his eyes were focused on the moving screen, taking in every little detail. The passive look remained as his turned his attention to Tony after the screen went black for the millionth time that night. Tony could practically see the cogs turning in his head while he tried to make sense of all the new information.

“Your father was in possession of the serum.”

“That’s what it looks like. I can’t figure out why he had it. He didn’t create it. Howard might have had a decent understanding of chemistry and biology, but not nearly enough to recreate the serum. Zola died in the 1970s.”

“According to Captain Rogers, his consciousness was saved so his intelligence could continue to be utilized. It is possible that the elder Mr. Stark gained his information from him.”

“Zola worked with S.H.I.E.L.D. for years. Why would Howard wait so long to get the information out of him if he knew? He might have known that Zola had been working on making a serum before he was captured, but it’s unlikely any of them knew he succeeded. Howard didn’t even know who the Winter Soldier actually was until he was sent to kill them.”

“So someone else created the serum given to your father for S.H.I.E.L.D.?”

“Assuming he was giving it to them.”

“Who else would he give it to?”

“I don’t know.” Tony flicked the screen in front of him off with a heavy sigh and ran a hand through his slightly greasy hair. “Apparently, there’s a lot about that night I don’t know.”

“Perhaps your father left files regarding his work at the time.”

“S.H.I.E.L.D. gave me all of the things he left with them years ago. There was no mention of any sort of serum. There is one person who might know.”

“Sergeant Barnes.”

“No, the Winter Soldier.”

* * *

 

_The weight behind the blow made the suit groan in protest and slide back on the concrete floor with a loud scrapping sound. The heels of his boots tried to dig into the ground to stop his backwards momentum, but the force against his chest was too much. For a moment the pressure let up and Tony thought he’d be able to get his bearings back, then something slammed in the back of Tony’s head sending him tumbling forward. Something bright red and blue smacked across his face before he could even hit the ground and sent him reeling to the side._

_The sound of his suit hitting the ground echoed through the deserted facility and covered up the sound of the two super soldiers panting slightly from exertion. Now that he wasn’t busy getting tossed around like a rag doll, he could finally feel all the damage the suit hadn’t been able to save him from. Blood was running over his left eye causing the hud of his suit to look blurry because of the sticky, red substance smeared across it. Every breath he took caused his ribs to ache painfully and his head felt like it was going to explode any minute._

_He was so busy trying to catalogue everything wrong with him as he struggled back up, he missed the super soldier moving to stand in front of him. It was impossible to miss the blonde haired man standing over him after he ripped the face plate off of his armor. Cold, blue eyes were glaring down at Tony with a detachment that Tony hadn’t thought the other man possible of. If Tony didn’t know better, he would think that Steve had been replaced by a robot that had his face plastered on it._

_“Do it.”_

_Steve’s face remained unusually blank as he brought his shield down hard against the side of Tony’s still armored head. Black spots popped up in Tony’s vision and turned Steve into a shapeless blob looming over him. Another hit came to the side of Tony’s head causing him to hit the ground once more so he was left staring at Steve’s boots. Instead of trying to pull himself back up, Tony rolled his tender body over until he was resting on his back._

_“Was it worth it?”_

_The sudden fire in Steve’s eyes had Tony closing his so he wouldn’t have to see Steve bringing his shield down on him once again. The first hit to Tony’s chest plate made the arc reactor crack under the immense amount of force Steve put behind it. The next one caused the outer layer of the suit to start to cave in and put pressure on Tony’s sternum. One last hit against Tony’s chest plate finally lead to the suit giving in and piercing through the vulnerable flesh underneath._

_Blood quickly pooled in Tony’s mouth until he was literally choking on the thick liquid forcing its way up his throat. The pain he had originally felt when the armor first impaled him had disappeared, leaving him with a strangely numb feeling. His vision was getting hazer and hazer to the point he couldn’t even see the crumbling ceiling above his head. The last thing on Tony’s mind before he finally lost consciousness was the look on Steve’s face when he brought his shield down one final time._

* * *

 

“Did you get any sleep last night?”

“Yes.”

The wrench that Tony had been using to tweak the quinjet engine was suddenly plucked out of his hand in the middle of tightening a bolt. “How long?”

“Long enough.”

“How many cups of coffee are you running off of?”

“My blood hasn’t turned into coffee so not too much.”

“Do I even want to know how long you’ve been working?”

“Depends.” Tony snatched the wrench back from Rhodey’s hands so he could go back to improving the engine’s efficiency. “Are you going to give me that disappointed look if you don’t like the answer I give you?”

“The fact you’re asking that question is concerning. Should I even bother to ask whether you want to talk about your nightmares?”

“I’d prefer you didn’t.”

“Would you tell me if I did?”

Tony set the wrench down with a heavy sigh and turned to look at the concerned face of his best friend. “What did Vision tell you?”

“Just that you’ve been looking into the night your parents died. He wouldn’t tell me why. He’s worried about you. We both are.”

“Worried because you think I’m going to try to take on two super soldiers by myself again?”

“Unless that letter he sent you included an address, I don’t think I have to worry about that.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Sure you don’t, Tony Stank.” The smirk that twisted up the corners of Rhodey’s lips made Tony want to simultaneously punch and hug the man. “Have you called him yet?”

“Still don’t know what you’re talking about. Can we go back to talking about how Barnes killed my parents? I’d actually prefer to talk about that.”

“And why is that?”

“I’m sure you’re going to tell me. This is starting to become too much like a therapy session for me. I always hated those.”

“Too bad. You help me with my therapy, I help you with yours.”

The stubborn set of Rhodey’s shoulders made it painfully obvious that he wasn’t planning on leaving until Tony did what he wanted him to. Unfortunately, there was no way for him to wait the other man out because he didn’t have any meetings or trainings he would have to rush off to. There wasn’t a doubt in Tony’s mind that Rhodey was stubborn enough to sit in that spot all day if that’s what it took. Tony was pretty sure they wouldn’t have remained friends as long as they had if Rhodey didn’t possess the patience of a saint.

“Fine. Tell me why I’d rather talk about Barnes than Rogers.”

“The fact you don’t even call him Steve or some ridiculous variant of Captain says a lot.”

The wheels on Tony’s stool squeaked loudly when he propelled himself over to where Rhodey was sitting in his wheelchair. “You’re avoiding the question. Classic denial tactic.”

“I’m not avoiding. I’m making a point. The reason you don’t want to talk about Steve is because you haven’t forgiven him for keeping that a secret from you.”

“But you think I’ve forgiven Barnes?”

“You know what it’s like to have things happen to you against your will. What happened to Barnes with Hydra was just as against his will as what happened to you in Afghanistan. Maybe you didn’t see it that way at first, but I know you. You’ve thought about this and you know that Hydra is the one you should be blaming for your parent’s death not Barnes. You know what it’s like to lose yourself and become something you never wanted to.”

“Sometimes I think you know me better than I do.” The casual shrug Rhodey gave him in response had Tony quietly chuckling under his breath for a few seconds. “I don’t know if I can forgive him.”

“No one said you had to.”

“Do you think I should?”

“Honestly, Tones, I don’t know. You trusted him and normally when someone breaks your trust, it’s a pretty good indicator that you don’t need them in your life.”

“I’m sensing a ‘but’ coming.”

“He’s a good man that made a mistake. I don’t agree with his choice, but I know that he never wanted to intentionally hurt you. That doesn’t mean you need to forgive him if you don’t want to.”

“I don’t know what I want.”

Rhodey clapped a strong hand against Tony’s shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze before heading towards the door. “For what it’s worth, I think your relationship meant just as much to him as it did to you. Wherever he is, he’s sulking more than you are.”

* * *

 

The first time Tony remembered being shoved in a suit, he had been five and wanted nothing more than to rip the uncomfortable clothes off his body. The material had been of the highest quality and the family tailor made sure it fit perfectly, but he wasn’t allowed to do anything he liked when he wore it. Instead, he was forced to remain silent unless spoken to while his father schmoozed the business men and his mother impressed their guest with her charity work. He absolutely despised every minute he had to wear the suit and had never wanted to wear another one again.

Of course being the son of the CEO of Stark Industries, meant he spent most of his childhood attending those awful parties until he went to boarding school. The uniform he had to wear during his time at that stuffy, rich school hadn’t been any better considering it was so similar to the fancy suits he despised. His teachers always tightened his tie to the point he could barely breathe if they caught him with his tie hanging loose and chastised him when his dress shirt was the slightest bit untucked.

He’d been thrilled to go to MIT where he could spend all his time in the lab wearing old jeans and worn shirts that ended up covered in oil. There was never anyone to glare at him if he didn’t have his slacks perfectly pressed or scold him for not shining his dress shoes. Every time he looked in the mirror after a long day of working in the lab, he could just imagine how angry Howard would have been if he saw him. It was the little things like pissing off Howard that made his hatred of suits even stronger and had him wearing worn clothing instead.

Things had changed the day he got a phone call informing him that his parents had been killed in a car crash. The suit he had worn to the funeral had been the first one he wore in an extremely long time and felt more constricting than any of the others. That night he ended up burning the three-piece suit while drunk and spent the next two years trying to figure out what to do now he was responsible for one of the top companies in the world. The day he finally decided to take his place as CEO of Stark Industries, he filled half his closet with fancy suits and expensive ties.

Twenty-four years later, he still hated wearing the clothes he associated with his awful childhood. He did it anyways because people expected Tony Stark to look completely immaculate in the newest fashion of the year. People didn’t care about Tony Stark the engineer that spent more time with robots than people, they cared about the flashy business man who could talk his way out of anything. So he put up a front by having perfectly done hair and dressed in whatever his stylist told him was the best. It made meetings he didn’t want to attend even worse and since going through the wormhole his anxiety would spike through the roof if it started to feel like his suit was too tight.

All things considered, it didn’t surprise Tony at all that the morning of the New York Sokovia Accord’s meeting he felt zero desire to put on a suit. He spent more time than he normally did sipping a cup of coffee while he flicked through the enormous amount of emails he received during the night. His hair took longer than normal to style because he spiked it up with an insane amount of gel before actually trying to make it look presentable. He probably would have waited longer to get dressed if Rhodey didn’t come knocking to make sure Tony was ready to leave early because being on time means being late.

Naturally, Tony blames Rhodey for ending up an hour early to the meeting leaving Tony at the mercy of whatever politician felt the need to badger him. His collar started to feel a little too snug when the French ambassador spent ten minutes wanting to know about the hunt for Captain America. He felt like he was starting to lose circulation to his hands during a group chat with a bunch of ambassadors inquiring about his decision to become Iron Man. The desire to lose his suit jacket and roll up his sleeves sky rocketed the moment he spotted T’Challa striding confidently towards him.

“Mr. Stark.”

“T’Challa, what can I do for you?”

“I’d like to discuss some business with you in private if you have the time.”

“For you, of course.”

T’Challa gave a curt nod and motioned for Tony to follow him out of the large boardroom the meeting was being held in. Two sharply dressed men opened a door across the hall for the Wakandan king then close the door after Tony crosses over the threshold. The room was much smaller than the previous one with most of the space taken up by a conference room table and chairs. Tony’s eyes are immediately drawn to the two small folders placed neatly on opposite sides of the table.

“I’ve got to admit, I’m curious what business you want to discuss. Wakanda is known for being fairly self-sufficient. Last I heard, the only things you import are consumables and entertainment.”

“The business I wish to speak to you about has nothing to do with the Wakandan people. It is a personal business matter.”

“I’m assuming you don’t mean suit upgrades.”

The ghost of a smile appeared on T’Challa’s face for half a second before his face went back to his normal stoic expression and motioned for Tony to look in the folder. “It has recently come to my attention that you created a device to reconstruct memories in a virtual reality so they can be relived.”

“You want to borrow it?”

“No. We’ve been looking into ways to fix the Hydra brainwashing done to Sergeant Barnes and need a way to determine what was done to him.”

“Don’t you have a telepath that can do that for you?”

“There are mental blocks put into place to keep the Winter Soldier from accessing his memories. Some blocks he has managed to break, others remain immovable. Having a telepath manipulate his mind could cause more harm than good.”

“Why would you risk using my device then? It could be just as detrimental.”

“Sergeant Barnes mentioned receiving electroshock therapy whenever Hydra wished to return him to a clean slate.”

“You think there might be some sort of underlying neuropathology that could be fixed by stimulus to the neural receptors in the memory storage areas of the brain.” Tony quickly scanned through the few pages of theories and research notes T’Challa had given him with interest. “Altering the signal transduction by introducing alpha and beta waves to the mix could disrupt whatever Hydra did to him. It could also wipe out any memories he hasn’t gained back. Has his memory improved at all in the last couple of weeks?”

“No. Sergeant Barnes decided it was best he be placed back in cryo-sleep until there is a way to remove the trigger words Zemo used against him.”

“He’ll need to be brought out.”

“I am aware. We would expect Colonel Rhodes to come with you since you are helping him with his therapy. Vision is more than welcome to join as well so he is not left alone in the facility.”

Tony messed absentmindedly with the cuffs of his dress shirt as he prepared to ask T’Challa a question he didn’t want to know the answer to. “Do the others know you’re asking me to do this? We didn’t exactly part on the best terms.”

“They were made aware. Some thought it would be harder to convince you.”

“Not you?”

“We are men of logic and science. We wish to put blame only on the people who deserve it and use our knowledge to help people in need. It is our nature.”

“When do you want us?”

“Our plane leaves for Wakanda tomorrow. You, Colonel Rhodes, and Vision are welcome to join us. I assure you, Secretary of State Ross will not be an issue.”

“Square deal.” Tony gave T’Challa a firm handshake and followed the king out the conference room door just as the last of the meeting attendees were heading into the other room.


	3. Steve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve receives the news Tony and the others will be coming to Wakanda, the rest of the team is told, and Steve and Tony speak for the first time since Siberia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about taking so long to get this chapter out. I had a much harder time writing this chapter than the others. I actually wrote a part of chapter four before I even started this one. Hopefully you all enjoy this one. I'll make sure to have the next chapter up sooner!

Most of Steve’s life, he had trouble getting a decent sleep for a variety of reasons. Sleep before the serum was made difficult by his various ailments and the drafty apartments he lived in. After the serum fixed all of Steve’s medical issues, his sleep was disturbed by constant nightmare revolving around the war. Nightmares of men dying because Steve didn’t do enough to save them gave way to nightmares of Bucky falling off a train after what he thought was his best friend’s death. Waking up in a new century did nothing to get rid of the constant nightmares plaguing the few hours he managed sleep.

His inability to sleep meant most nights were spent either restlessly rolling around in his bed or trying to distract himself from his nightmares. He’d destroyed an enormous amount of punching bags after his was plucked from the ice and left to his own devices. When he moved to his apartment in D.C., he didn’t have the luxury of going down a few flights of stairs to get to a well-stocked gym. He ended up having to find a different way of distracting himself that ended up being drinking a cup of coffee while he listened to calming music.

The only thing different about living in Wakanda was the fact he was normally joined by at least one other person who couldn’t sleep either. More often than not, Natasha was the one that joined him during his long, insomniac nights. Steve would normally find her already sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of tea clutched tightly between her small hands and a distant look in her eyes. Sometimes Clint would be sitting with her in solidary as he talked about anything that sprang into his head to distract her. Whenever the night terrors became too much, Sam or Wanda would join them with haunted looks on their faces that never failed to make Steve feel even worse.

Two nights after T’Challa left to attend the Sokovia Accords conference in New York, Steve found himself sitting in peaceful silence with an exhausted looking Black Widow. Her hair was pulled up in a messy bun that barely seemed to be staying in place and her clothes looked like she had stolen them from Clint’s room. The bags that had been growing under her eyes were more pronounced than ever and her body lacked its usual alertness. Her green eyes had followed him around the kitchen as he went about making two cups of coffee instead of his usual one.

“Heard any news yet?” The grainy quality of her voice made it clear that Natasha had actually attempted to sleep and ended up waking up because of her nightmares. “The conference should be over soon.”

“No, I haven’t. T’Challa’s a busy man. I’m sure he’ll need to do some networking with the other advocates to build solid foundations with the other countries backing the Accords.”

“Another reason I’m glad I never got into politics. I always hated the undercover jobs that I’d have to go to those sort of events for. Pretending I actually liked any of the pretentious idiots that attended them always made my skin crawl.”

“I’m sure they weren’t all pretentious.”

Natasha quirked her lips into a half smile that did nothing to hide the sadness in her bright green eyes. “Not all of them, but the ones I had to be around were. Most of them were older men that loved to flaunt their money or power or both and enjoyed a pretty woman that would agree with anything they said. It was like catching flies and I was the honey.”

“Is that what keeps you awake at night?”

“No. Those men deserved what they got. They were liars and corrupt and dirty. They were hurting the people they were in charge of protecting. The innocent ones are the ones that haunt me.”

“How did you forgive yourself?”

“I didn’t. I’ve spent my whole life trying to make up for all the horrible things I’ve done and I know it will never be enough.”

“So why do you keep trying?”

“Because one day I hope to prove myself wrong.” The sound of the cordless landline phone going off broke the sombre mood and caused a more authentic smile to grace Natasha’s lips. “You should answer that. A king shouldn’t be kept waiting.”

“Hello?”

“Captain Rogers.”

“King T’Challa, how are you?”

“Fine. The meeting went as to be expected. Ross will likely have to call several more to ensure the Accords are kept in place.”

“Good. That means there’s still a chance to get them removed.”

“Unlikely, but yes. I called to inform you that I will be returning to Wakanda tomorrow with Tony Stark, Colonel Rhodes, and Vision. It is best you prepare your team for their arrival.”

The sudden lump in Steve’s throat had him desperately struggling to response to the Wakandan king waiting patiently on the other end. “I… Thank you. You’ve done so much already and this is… Thank you. I’ll make sure the others know.”

“Excellent. I will leave you to your rest then. You will need it. Tell Agent Romanoff to do the same.”

“Of course. Thank you so much again.”

“You’re most welcome, Captain Rogers. Goodbye.”

“Bye.”

“Good news then?” Steve knew before he even turned around that Natasha was now standing right behind him with her still full cup of coffee in her hands. “Told you Stark would come.”

“Yeah, you did.”

* * *

 

By the time Steve rolled groggily out of bed the next morning, the smell of food was already wafting down the hall. It didn’t take him long to methodically run through his normal morning routine before padding down the hall already fully dressed for a day of training. He tried his best to keep his face as neutral as possible so any team members already awake wouldn’t be hounding him with questions before everyone was present. The front proved to be unnecessary when he found every member of his team already sitting at the kitchen table with plates full of food.

“The sleeper has awakened.” The wide smile on Sam’s face had Steve thinking the man had made a reference that he knew Steve wouldn’t understand and was proud of himself for it. “Natasha said you have something to tell us.”

“I’m going to get some coffee first. I just need-”

“Don’t say it.”

“On your left.”

“One of these days, I’m going to trip you when you do that and it won’t be so funny to you anymore.”

The familiar banter with Sam made Steve feel more normal than he had in a while, but the feeling didn’t last long. “King T’Challa called last night to let us know he’s coming back later today with Tony, Colonel Rhodes, and Vision. His email this morning said they’d be arriving in the early afternoon. You all need to be prepared for their arrival.”

“He actually agreed to come?” The maple syrup soaked pancake on Scott’s fork dropped back to the plate below when the other man got too distracted to complete the journey to his mouth. “I’ve met guys like him before and none of them would be willing to just help out of the goodness of their heart.”

It was obvious to everyone in the kitchen that Natasha was fighting the urge to roll her eyes at Scott’s statement as she gave her deadpanned reply. “Stark Industries employs more people than any other company, gives needed technology and supplies to third world countries, and provides millions of dollars’ worth of disaster relief. None of that started until Tony took over the company. He only pretends to be like those greedy, power-crazed businessmen you steal from.”

“Are you going to kill me now? You have your murder face on. Did you use to date him or something? Now you look even more murderous. I can leave. Leaving seems like a really good idea. I like life.”

“I went undercover as his assistant to keep an eye on him while he was dying from palladium poisoning. I’ve seen him at his worst and his best.”

“So that’s a no on the killing thing?”

“No one is killing anybody.” Steve was sure if he could still get headaches without hitting his head extremely hard he would end up with one before breakfast was over. “We’re going to continue with the training schedule as planned. I’ve got a team-based obstacle course that we’ll be doing in pairs so we can start working on being able to rely on each other in the field.”

“I can work with Wanda and Scott on hand-to-hand combat when they’re not doing the obstacle course.”

“That’s a good idea, Natasha. Clint and I can help you with that if you need it. Sam, could you help improve everyone’s ability to deal with airborne enemies?”

“Sounds good to me. I’ve got a few aerial drills I want to run to improve my turns and maneuverability.”

“We’ll find a way to work them into any sparring you do. Anyone else have something they want to work on today?”

Clint perked up in his chair like he had been literally struck with a great idea he couldn’t wait to put into action. “I’d like to borrow Wanda to try out a few things that might come in handy.”

“Of course. I’ll make sure you get the time you need. If everyone’s done with breakfast, then suit up and meet in the gym. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

“You got it, Cap.”

* * *

 

“You’ve got your thinking face on. They’re doing a pretty good job working together so it can’t be that.” Clint’s eyes remained focused on Sam and Scott running through the obstacle course instead of turning to look at Steve. “What’s on your mind?”

“A lot of things. Hydra’s at an advantage now that we’re considered fugitives and the others are bound by the Accords. If Hydra decides to make a power play, a lot of people could die.”

“Stark left us in a difficult position.”

“It’s not his fault. He was just doing what he thought was the right thing to do.”

“Look where that left us. Ross would have had no problem leaving us to rot in that prison and Tony wouldn’t have been able to do a damn thing about it.”

Steve couldn’t bother to hold back the sigh that slipped through his lips after hearing Clint’s borderline angry tone. “I understand that you’re upset with him and I can’t make you feel differently, but try not to piss him off as soon as you see him. I really appreciate him doing this.”

“Doesn’t it seem a little suspicious that he would agree to come all the way to Wakanda to help the man who murdered his parents?”

“How did you know that?”

“Nat told me. Unless it’s confidential, we pretty much tell each other everything. Are you sure we can trust him coming here? He has a pretty good reason to want Bucky behind bars and Ross is probably pissed at him for failing to bring you in.”

“He’s not loyal to Ross. When he figured out Zemo was the one behind the attack, he came to help us bring him in.”

“Then ended up turning against you.”

“What does Nat think?”

“She’s compromised.” Clint turned to look at Steve for the first time since he had made his way over to where Steve had been watching the others from. “The two with the second longest history on the original team were Nat and Tony. She wouldn’t admit it to anyone, especially Tony, but she’s got a bit of a soft spot for the guy. She can’t be trusted to be biased on the matter.”

“But you can?”

“I can provide a different perspective at least. It’s entirely possible that Stark is only coming here to help break Hydra’s hold on the Winter Soldier part of Bucky, but there could be ulterior motives. We need to keep that in mind and be prepared.”

“I’m guessing Sam, Wanda, and Scott feel the same way?”

“Sam hasn’t said anything and Wanda has never cared for Stark. You heard what Scott thought this morning.”

“If it makes you all uncomfortable, then we can-”

“I’m not trying to guilt you into leaving. T’Challa has probably already told him we’re here. I just think we need to be prepared in case things go south. We got out of the Raft once. Odds are we won’t get out a second time, especially if you’re in there with us.”

Steve clenched his hands tightly at his sides so he had two physical points to anchor his wild emotions to. “We’ll come up with some contingency plans. Just in case something happens.”

“Nat and I can handle that. You’ve got enough on your mind right now. Bucky’s going to need you for support. Trust me.”

“Thanks. I really appreciate that. I know I haven’t been much of a leader lately.”

“Everyone’s been a little out of it recently. Nobody blames you for needing time to get your head back on straight. I think we all would have been more concerned if you were acting like everything was completely normal. Pretty sure that would have meant you’re a psychopath or secretly a Hydra agent.”

“Good thing I’m not then.”

“Definitely. I deal enough with psychos and Hydra agents in the field. Having one as a friend would just be overkill.” Clint clapped his hand reassuringly against Steve’s shoulder and hopped down with a grace that came with years of practice. “My turn to go with the ant dude. I’m starting to feel left out.”

* * *

 

Steve methodically unwrapped the abused white tape from around his right hand then did the same with the tape on his left hand. The skin beneath the tape was a vibrant red color, but the skin had managed to hold up against the rough treatment he had given it. If he had gone on for much longer than he had, he was sure the skin would have cracked open and painted the tape bright red. He flexed his stiff fingers to loosen up the tightness from keeping them curled up in a fist for so long.

The sound of someone clearing their throat loudly drew Steve’s attention away from his hands and to the stern faced woman standing in the doorway. Her dark hair was pulled firmly up into a tight bun on the top of her head that didn’t have a single strand out of place. The crisp heather grey pantsuit she wore was neatly pressed without a single wrinkle marring the expensive looking fabric. Everything about her presence screamed complete control and demanded respect without having to use any words.

“Captain Rogers, I was sent to inform you that the king and his guests have just arrived. They are heading for the other guest quarters to deposit their things then they will meet you in the same boardroom you had your last meeting with King T’Challa.”

“Thank you.”

“My pleasure, Captain. The others have already been informed. Only Agent Romanoff expressed interest in attending the meeting. She asked me to inform you she would meet you there.”

“Good to know. Thank you very much.”

“As I’ve already said, it is my pleasure.”

The sound of her heels clicking against the tile floor was more than a little welcomed as Steve’s hands started to shake uncontrollably. A familiar tightness gripped his throat like it always used to right before he would experience an asthma attack. He could easily imagine Bucky telling him that he needed to calm down and take deep, steady breathes. Slowly his breathing started to even back out to normal and the trembling in his hands went away. The nervous energy remained thrumming under Steve’s skin as he made his way through the Wakandan palace.

“You’re looking a little green, Rogers.” Natasha placed a comforting hand on Steve’s bicep and guided him over to one of the chairs pushed against the wall away from the table. “You’ve faced down armies and this is what makes you nervous? Got to admit I’m surprised.”

“I haven’t exactly had the best experiences in rooms like this. I can’t imagine this one is going to be any better.”

“Tony will probably wait until you’re alone before he yells at you. Although you might want to keep that face up, he might go easier on you if he gets to enjoy the sight of you trembling in fear of him before hand.”

“Has anybody ever told you what an uplifting person you are?”

“What can I say? It’s an important part of the job.”

If Steve had been in a better mood, he probably would have snorted at the deadpanned delivery Natasha gave in response. “I’m well aware. Have you seen them yet?”

“I spoke briefly with T’Challa. He seemed optimistic about Tony’s ability to unlock Bucky’s memories and figure out what Hydra did to him.”

“He’s not concerned that he’s going to bring Ross down on all of us?”

“Clint talked to you?”

“Yeah. Have you two worked out some emergency plans in case that happens?”

“A few.” Natasha let out a sigh at the same time she relaxed further into the chair she was sitting in and let her head tip back against the wall. “I’ve made it perfectly clear that I don’t think it will be necessary, but it is better to be safe than sorry. We’ve already briefed the others on them. You seemed like you needed some space earlier so I told Clint I’d walk you through them later. Did you manage to work everything out?”

“I thought I did.”

“But now you’ve got all that nervous energy back again?”

“I’ve had time to come up with plenty of scenarios for the first time we see each other again. All of them include him yelling at me and a majority of them also include him throwing things at me in rage. None of them end well.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he decides to punch you. Just make sure he actually goes to medical after he breaks his hand on your jaw of steel.”

“Great. That makes me feel much better.”

A tired smile worked its way onto Natasha’s face as she gave Steve’s knee a firm, reassuring squeeze with her small hand. “Just remember if you want any hope at rebuilding your relationship with Tony, then you need to let him get his feelings off his chest so he can start healing. Don’t push him for more than he can give and listen to what he has to say. It’s the small things that go a long way when you’re trying to show someone that you’re worthy of their trust.”

“If I even am still worthy of his trust.”

“That’s his decision to make. You’re going to give him reasons to think he can trust you again, but ultimately it’s up to him. Remember what we talked about? Apology flowers are a great start.”

“Remind me to take a trip to the local florist. I’ll get him something exotic.”

“Good plan, Rogers. It’s almost like you’ve done this before.” It wasn’t until Steve snapped his head towards the gradually opening door that he realized he no longer felt like his heart was about to jump out of his chest.

* * *

 

“Disturbing both the alpha and beta waves at the same time could cause more neurological issues than just experimenting with one. It would be better to start with one and then add in the other if it is necessary.”

“You heard him. The device works by accessing both. It would diminish the ability to work properly if both waves aren’t utilized.”

“He also said it works off of memories that you already remember. Sergeant Barnes has no recollection of what happened to him.”

“That’s why the device needs to be modified.”

“We still need it so he can recreate the memory in a virtual world that we can actually see. Modifying the abilities could decrease the quality.”

“There is someone that remembers.” The sound of Tony’s voice pulled Steve away from the verbal ping pong match the Wakandan scientist had been in since T’Challa presented his initial report. “It’s just a matter of getting Sergeant Barnes’ permission to do it.”

Natasha tilted her head to the side with a calculating look on her face while she processed Tony’s words, then raised her eyebrows in interest after the pieces finally slotted into place. “The Winter Soldier. You think the Winter Soldier remembers what Barnes doesn’t.”

“When Zemo wanted information on a specific mission report, he triggered the Winter Soldier programming. If you think about the purpose behind wiping him, it would make sense that the Winter Soldier has the information we need. Hydra only wiped him when he became too human for him to function correctly as the mindless weapon they wanted. The Winter Soldier wasn’t the one that was wiped.”

“You’ll need someone who speaks Russian to trigger the programming.”

“Good thing you’re here then.”

“What if he doesn’t agree to having the programming triggered?” Steve fought the urge to reach over and cover Natasha’s hand so she would stop drumming it constantly on her knee. “Not many people would agree to let people have that kind of control over their mind.”

“That’s why it’s entirely his choice, but I’m going to make it clear that it’s our best bet at determining how Hydra implemented the programming. We’ll come up with something else if he decides against it.”

“If he agrees, I’ll perform the trigger for you and do any translating you need.”

“Excellent.” Tony turned his attention from where it had been entirely focused on Natasha to the group of scientists sitting at the table. “When can we have him out cryo?”

“Tomorrow morning. We need to prep all the equipment and make sure we have everything we need ready in case any medical issues arise.”

“Great. If that’s all, Rhodey hasn’t had his therapy session today and it’s important we keep up a daily workout to prevent atrophy.”

“Of course, Mr. Stark. We will have someone inform you in the morning when we are ready to bring Sergeant Barnes out. Your help is much appreciated.”

Tony gave a sharp nod then bid T’Challa and the rest of the room good-bye before leaving the room without bothering to ever look at Steve. All of Steve’s instincts were telling him to go after the other man so they could start getting things off their chests, but the fact Tony completely ignored him made him think twice about it. If the man couldn’t even stand to look at Steve, why would he be willing to speak even a single syllable to him? The look Natasha sent him after the door clicked shut behind Tony was enough to have Steve speeding down the hallway, despite the fact he wasn’t sure either of them were ready to be face to face again.

* * *

 

Steve stood in front of the training room door with no doubt in his mind that his uncertainty was clearly written across his face. The fist he had raised to knock on the door was hovering awkwardly in midair just a few inches away from the wood. If anyone were to walk by, they would probably be concerned with how Steve was standing as still as a statue. It was getting to the point he wasn’t sure he would be able to move if he waited any longer to knock on the door.

The feel of solid wood under his knuckles had an oddly calming effect as he waited for someone on the other side to open the door. Steve nearly jumped a good foot in the air when Vision phased silently through the wall on the left side of the door. His green eyes bore into Steve with their usual ability to make Steve feel like Vision could see into his head. He tipped his head down in a polite greeting that Steve found himself reciprocating without thinking about it.

“Captain, it is good to see you again. I was on my way to visit Wanda. Colonel Rhodes and Mr. Stark are inside.”

“She’s probably in the greenhouse. She finds it calming.”

“Thank you for the information. I would suggest you not keep them waiting. Colonel Rhodes is already in an irritable mood.”

“Thanks for the warning. I hope you and Wanda can work things out. I know she’s missed your friendship since she’s been here.”

Vision stared sombrely at some point behind Steve like the man’s words had brought up some bad memories the android had forgotten up until then. “I have found myself missing her company as well. She was always kind and helpful. Things at the Avengers Facility have been different. It will be… nice to see her again.”

With a small wave goodbye, Vision floated down the hallway in the direction of the elevator that would take him to the greenhouse. Steve waited until the android was out of sight before he finally opened the door and stepped into the training room. His eyes were immediately met with the sight of a profusely sweating Colonel Rhodes taking shaky steps towards Tony. The two bars on either side of the man were just within reach just in case the man needed to reach for them, but the determined look on his face made it perfectly clear he didn’t plan on using them.

The moment his feet reached the end of the bars, Tony stepped to the side so he could wrap his arm around the Colonel’s waist and guide him down to a nearby wheelchair. A water bottle was shoved into Colonel Rhodes’ hands and he received a pat on his head that he tried to swat away at the same time he chugged down his water. He eventually landed a sharp slap against his best friend’s hand that had the other man cursing good-naturedly as he cradled his hand to his chest. His dramatics earned him a fond eye roll and a slight quirk of the lips that Steve had only ever seen Colonel Rhodes give Tony.

The hint of a smile disappeared when Colonel Rhodes shifted his gaze over to where Steve was standing just inside the doorway. “Want me to stay?”

“I can handle myself.”

“I didn’t buy that when you were a mouthy fifteen-year-old and I don’t buy it now, but I’ll leave you to it. You know where I’ll be. We’ll talk when you’re done here.” Colonel Rhodes kept a stony face the entire time he wheeled himself towards the door and seemed to be leaving without another word until he caught the edge of Steve’s sleeve with his hand. “Don’t hurt him more than you already have. He’s been through enough.”

Before Steve could reply, Colonel Rhodes left the room without so much as a squeak of his wheels against the floor. “Colonel Rhodes looks like he’s doing well.”

“Rhodey never lets things stand in his way. He’s a fighter. That’s why he’s made a career out of being in the military. Did you just come to talk about Rhodey or was there something else?”

“Tony, I’m-”

“Sorry? Apologizing doesn’t automatically make everything better.”

“I know that, but it doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be done.”

“Apology noted.” Tony crossed the room so he was standing as close as he could possibly get to the door without standing near Steve. “If that’s all, I’ve got things I need to get done before tomorrow.”

“I… Thank you for doing this. I know this must be difficult for you.”

“Why? Because Barnes killed my parents? Is that what you’re referring to?”

“You know I am. I know you’re still mad about it, but you’re helping him anyways and I’m so grateful for that.”

“Mad is an understatement. I am still unbelievably furious, but not at him. I’m pissed at Hydra and I’m pissed at you, not him.”

“I should have told you.”

“Damn right you should have told me! How long did you know? I’m assuming Barnes didn’t remember until Zemo triggered the programming, but if you found out after that you wouldn’t have looked so guilty. Was it during one of your searches or did you know before that?”

“Tony-”

Tony took a step back when Steve took a step forward and repeated the action again when Steve attempted to move closer to him a second time. “Don’t lie to me again. I want the truth.”

“After we brought down Hydra, Natasha pulled some strings with some of her informants in Russia to get information on the Winter Soldier. She didn’t look at it, but before she gave it to me she warned me that I might not like what I find. It included a list of some of the assassinations the handler he had in the nineties gave him. Your parents were on the list.”

“The whole time. You knew the whole time.”

“I didn’t tell you because I was selfish. I couldn’t risk you deciding you wanted Bucky taken into custody so he could be punished for his actions. Bucky was always there to protect me when I couldn’t protect myself and I needed to do the same for him.”

“You know, I thought I could trust you. Our relationship might have started off rocky, but the more we worked together, the more I saw you as someone I could trust to have my back. Even during the mess with Ultron, I knew you would be there for me. Clearly, I was the only one that felt that way.”

“Of course I trusted you!”

“You had a funny way of showing it.”

“I trusted you, but I had to be sure Bucky would be safe.”

“You think I wouldn’t understand that?” The look of pain on Tony’s face as he let the words spill out of his mouth made Steve wish he could wrap the man up in his arms and never let go. “You think I don’t know what it’s like to care about someone so much you would do whatever it takes to protect them? You think I don’t know what it’s like to worry about them because even though they aren’t related to you, they’re the only family you have left? You think I don’t understand how painfully it is to watch them hurt? I understand perfectly.”

“I didn’t think.”

“No, you didn’t. I don’t blame Bucky for killing my mother. That would be the equivalent of blaming a car for an accident. You blame the irresponsible people behind the wheel. I’m going to do whatever it takes to destroy Hydra. I will make them regret their decision and beg for mercy. I’m going to tear down their organization until they don’t have any heads left to grow. They’ll pay for what they’ve done.”

“You can’t take them on by yourself.”

“I can’t take them on at all right now. Ross is watching me like a hawk, but I’m working on that. So until I’m able to freely hunt down Hydra, I’m going to do what I can to weaken them.”

Steve managed to grip Tony’s shoulders firmly in hands before the other man could dodge out of the way and took a large step closer to the man. “I don’t have any right to tell you not to do this or to ask what you’re planning, so I’m not going to. Please, don’t get yourself killed doing this. I said the same thing after Bucky fell off that train and I ended up frozen in ice for seventy years. Don’t let your thirst for revenge cloud your judgement.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. I’m going to go check on Rhodey now. I’m sure I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Without bothering to say goodbye, Tony slipped out of Steve’s grip and disappeared from the training room. The sound of Tony’s shoes hitting the floor as he walked down the hallway filled Steve’s ears as he stared blankly at the wall in front of him. His fists clenched tightly at his sides, while his brain replayed what had just happened over and over again in his head. Every look on Tony’s face, every hitch of his breath, every emotion displayed through his body language ran through Steve’s head on repeat like a broken record.


	4. Tony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony speaks to Rhodey after his talk with Steve and begins working on figuring out a way to deprogram the Winter Soldier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before we get started, I'd just like to thank all you wonderful subscribers. This is the most I've ever gotten on a story so thank you so much and I hope you continue to enjoy it!

Tony had never considered himself emotionally competent in any way, shape, or form. It really wasn’t surprising considering the way he had grown up and the not role models he’d been surrounded by. He’d been taught from a young age that showing emotions other than anger or disappointment made him weak and if there was one thing Stark men weren’t, it was weak. He was taught to bottle his emotions and keep them locked away from others so they wouldn’t have any leverage over him. Over time, he had learned that trusting people was more dangerous than any weapon because of the negative emotional impact they would eventually have when they broke his trust.

Negative emotional impacts like the turmoil Tony was feeling after his conversation with Rogers. As his feet carried him to Rhodey’s room, he focused all his energy on trying to sort through the avalanche of emotions tumbling through him. The anger rolling through him made his blood feel like it was boiling and he could also feel the prickle of tears threatening to spill down his face because of the blanket of sadness wrapped around his heart. The familiar sensation of an impending panic attack made Tony pick up the pace as he rounded the corner to the hallway Rhodey’s room was in.

In the blink of an eye, Tony was fumbling with the door handle and stumbling into the well-furnished room. Rhodey’s eyes flicked up from the book he was reading, but he didn’t make a single move to get closer to Tony or speak. Instead he waited patiently for Tony to take a seat next to him on the bed, then put his book away so Tony had his full attention. Rhodey’s calming presence was enough to settle some of the more chaotic emotions plaguing Tony and halted the panic attack before it could really begin. The tears were still tittering on the edge, but Tony felt more emotionally stable than he had a few minutes ago so he counted that as a win.

“How are you feeling?”

Rhodey’s eyebrows raised marginally at the question, but he let Tony have his momentary distraction. “Fine. I could have gone longer.”

“We’ll make sure to add more time tomorrow.”

“You’re going to be busy tomorrow.”

“Doesn’t mean I’m going to be too busy for you.”

“We came here so you could work. I wasn’t expecting you to have a lot of time for me.”

“T’Challa invited you to come knowing I would take time to help you with your therapy.” Tony relaxed further down onto the comfortable bed below him and turned his head to look at Rhodey. “You’re stuck with me, honey bear.”

“I knew that a long time ago. Are you going to keep avoiding what you came here for or are you ready to talk now?”

“Would you actually let me keep avoiding?”

“No. I want to know what happened.”

“We talked.”

“About?”

Tony shrugged his shoulders and tapped his fingers erratically against his thigh to quell the urge to create like he normally would. “His decision to lie to me, how long he knew, why I’m helping Bucky get rid of the Winter Soldier programming.”

“Did you hit him?”

“No. There was yelling, but nothing got physical.”

“That explains the anger, but why do you look like you’re about to cry?”

“I’m too exhausted to even pretend I’m not. Can’t we just sleep?”

“I thought you had to get things ready before tomorrow.” Rhodey slid down until he was lying flat on his back and encouraged Tony to pillow his head on his chest. “Maybe crying would make you feel better. I’ve found it to be pretty therapeutic every once and a while.”

“Did you cry?”

“Yes. It didn’t magically make everything better afterwards, but it helped to let out all my emotions and turn my attention to moving forward.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’ve told you before and I’ll tell you until you stop apologizing, it’s not your fault. If I could go back in time and make a different choice, I wouldn’t. I’ll always stand by your side, Tones. No matter what.”

“I’d do the same for you.”

“I know you would.”

Tony pressed his face into the soft fabric of Rhodey’s shirt and let out a shuddering gasp as he finally let his emotions overwhelm him. Strong arms squeezed Tony tighter against the firm body underneath him and started rubbing slow circles against his back when the tears started to fall. The fabric slowly became more and more soaked with hot tears as Tony let go in the safety of his best friend’s arms. Exhaustion gradually took over until he was no longer crying desperately on his friend, but sleeping soundly for the first time in a long time.

* * *

 

“Mr. Stark?”

“One second.”

Tony kept his attention completely focused on the small object he held in his left hand, while his right hand carefully made one last delicate adjustment. He skilfully replaced the paneling over the fragile inner workings of the device and made sure it was fully intact before he looked up. The woman standing just inside the door didn’t look frustrated or bored like most people did when Tony was too absorbed in his work to bother really communicating. She simple raised a questioning eyebrow at him to ask whether he was finally finished and took a step further into the room after Tony nodded.

“The doctors are about to begin bringing Sergeant Barnes out of cryo. There’s also been a lab set up for you if you would like to go through it and see if there’s anything we missed.”

“I doubt anything was missed, but it would be good to get familiar with the space before Barnes is ready.”

“Would you like to go now?”

Tony shifted his attention to the mess of parts littering the table the woman had not so discretely directed her gaze to. “Now is good. Let me pack this all away real quick.”

“Did you bring all that with you or should I have a couple of new appliances sent to your room as replacement?”

“I actually brought all this with me so no need to worry about finding a half-dismantled TV lying around, but I should warn you that I made some modifications to the coffee maker.”

“Does it make better coffee?”

“That depends.” Tony tossed the last of the scraps into his duffle, shouldered the bag, and picked up the device he had been working on. “Does heating the coffee faster count?”

“How much faster?”

“Twelve percent.”

“Guess I’ll have to try it and see.”

The small smirk on the woman’s lips was a comforting sight as she led Tony down several pristine hallways lined with walls of windows. Her heels clicked rhythmically against the tile floor with every step she took until she came to a stop in front of a sliding glass door. She quickly typed in a password on the keypad next to the door, then motioned for Tony to go through first. Tony gave a nod of acknowledgement and crossed the doorway into the fully stocked lab with interest.

The familiar gleam of polished metals and sight of cabinets full of what he could only assume would be some of the best equipment in the world, made Tony feel more at ease than he had since he first set foot in Wakanda. Several holographic displays were already pulled up in different spots around the space so Tony could get right to work wherever he wanted to. Two rolling chairs were sitting innocently on either side of a larger padded chair that looked like it had several different restraints to straps its occupant down. He pulled his attention away from the ugly sight to find some place to set down what he had brought with him.

Tony was about to start setting everything up for Barnes in case the other man agreed to their plan and wanted to get it over with right away, but he was distracted by a small hand suddenly resting on his shoulder. “Still have a habit of sneaking up on people.”

“I’m a spy. It’s what we do.”

“Believe me, I’m plenty familiar with what you do. Did Cap send you to check up on me?”

“No.” Natasha placed a battered book down on the table next to Tony’s belongings then leaned her hip against the table. “This has what we’ll need to trigger the Winter Soldier programming if he agrees to it. Are you going to be ready for this?”

“It’s what I came here for. Rogers mentioned you were the one who got all the information on the Winter Soldier for him.”

“I called in a favor from one of my informants and gave him everything they passed on to me. Why do you ask?”

“And this informant gave you everything they knew?”

“They owed me for saving their life. There’s no guarantee they did, but they’re one of my more trustworthy informants. Hydra didn’t leave a lot of information about the Winter Soldier just lying around and what I gave Steve looked pretty impressive for a secret asset.”

Tony nodded his head and tapped his fingers thoughtfully against the table top. “How much information do you think the Winter Soldier has on that night?”

“Personal experience says Hydra wouldn’t have told him more than what he needed to know to get the job done.”

“I since a but.”

“Assets like that have a habit of figuring things out on their own if you give them any freedom.”

“Good to know.”

“You think the Winter Soldier knows something more about that night.”

“Possibly. You should go check on the others. I have prep work I need to do.”

* * *

 

Seeing Sergeant Barnes lying in a hospital bed so the Wakandan doctors could monitor his internal temperature was an odd sight for Tony. It was strange to think that not long ago this man had been hiding from any sort of government for fear of prosecution or any potentially hidden Hydra agents. After what happened with Zemo, Tony couldn’t really blame him for being so paranoid about government organizations. Despite his previous paranoia, Barnes looked as comfortable as a person possible could in any sort of unfamiliar hospital setting.

A stern faced doctor was too busy scribbling down notes on Barnes’ condition to pay any mind to Tony’s presence. He didn’t even bother to look up when Tony pushed open the door to the room and took several steps further inside. Of course Barnes immediately snapped his attention to where Tony was standing and based on his lack of surprise, must have already been told about Tony’s reason for being in Wakanda. His patient’s distraction was enough to alert the doctor of another person in the room and had him beating a hasty retreat when he realized who it was.

“How much did they tell you?”

“Just that you were here to deal with the programming. They didn’t tell me what you would be doing.”

Tony stepped further into the room until he standing at the foot of Barnes’ bed instead of in front of the door like he was moments away from bolting. “That depends entirely on you. There are a couple of possible options, but the one that will most likely yield the best results might not be something you’re comfortable with.”

“What are my options?”

“One of them, would be to let us alter your brain waves with exposure to alpha and beta waves until you remember what Hydra did to program you. The second option, which is the more viable option in my opinion, would be to trigger the Winter Soldier and have him give us the memories we need.”

“Give you the memories?” Barnes’ eyebrows scrunched up in confusion and he sat up a little straighter in the bed. “That’s an odd way of putting it.”

“I built a device that allows the wearer to manipulate a virtual reality of their memories created using their brainwaves. It will let us have full access to the memories and notice anything that might have been missed otherwise.”

“So you think the Winter Soldier will remember whatever they did to program me and you’ll be able to use that to get rid of it?”

“In simple terms, yes. No doubt it will end up being a lot more complicated than that, but it’s what I’m here for.”

“Why are you doing this? Why help me?”

“So we’re doing this conversation now.” Tony pull up a chair and took a seat with his arms across his chest where the arc reactor used to sit. “I looked up your file. Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes of the 107th later a member of the famous Howling Commandos. I read all about what happened to you when Zola had you. Most men would have taken the opportunity to go back home. Torture at the hands of a psychotic man’s mad scientist definitely would have granted you an honorable discharge. Instead, you stayed and raised hell all over Europe.”

“I’m not that person anymore.”

“I read about the Winter Soldier, too. A mindless machine that did whatever his handlers told him to. Programmed to be the perfect, obedient assassin. Hydra’s ultimate weapon when they needed someone taken out without a trace.”

“Including your parents.”

“Is that regret I hear?”

“I knew your father.”

“A lot of people knew Howard. Most of them wouldn’t have felt any remorse for assassinating him.”

“Your mother-”

Tony fought down the urge to remove himself from the room so he wouldn’t have to have this conversation with the tool used to kill Howard and his mother. “Believe me, I would have no problem burning every Hydra base to the ground because of what they did to my mother. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time or the permission to go on a worldwide Hydra hunting spree to get revenge.”

“Hydra still has a hold on me.”

“Why? Because they built in a few safeties to make sure you stayed their puppet? The human mind isn’t like a computer. It’s far more adaptable and does whatever it can to ensure it continues to keep you alive. The fact you’re remembering things Hydra tried to wipe from your memory proves how faulty their programming is.”

“You think you can fix me.”

“I have this thing about people touching my stuff. I don’t like it. I’m sure Hydra feels the same way, so I’m going to take their stuff and-”

“Make it your stuff?” The slight raise of Bucky’s eyebrows had Tony fighting back an inappropriate remark.

“I don’t make a habit of making people my stuff. Too slavery like for me.”

“Nice to know where you draw the line. When do we start?”

“If you’re agreeing to triggering the Winter Soldier, we can start whenever you’re ready. If you don’t want that, then-”

“Will you be the one triggering me?”

“I speak a lot of languages, but Russian isn’t one of them. Agent Romanoff will be the one to do it. Although, I do have some questions for the Winter Soldier that have nothing to do with removing the programming.”

Bucky looked curiously at Tony as he carefully slipped out of the hospital bed. “You didn’t think to include that in your reason for helping get rid of the Hydra programming.”

“Business strategy. Avoid bringing up potential deal breakers until the other party has already seen the greater advantages that will outweigh the negative.”

“What is it you want to ask?”

“Same thing Zemo wanted to know about.”

“Why?”

“There are some things about that night that don’t add up. I need some answers to figure out what was going on.”

“And if the Winter Soldier doesn’t have any information that will help?”

“I’ll just have to look for answers somewhere else.” Tony motioned for Bucky to follow him out of the hospital room then started guided him back towards the lab he was working in. “I’m known for being annoyingly stubborn.”

* * *

 

“Did you want Rogers to be here?” Tony purposefully waited until he was putting the electrodes on Bucky’s back before he asked about the other man.

“I would have thought you and Romanoff would want him to be here.”

“Those restraints are made out of Vibranium and you’re missing the only thing that might have given the Winter Soldier a chance at breaking out of them. It’s your decision.”

“The less people here the better.”

“Two it is.”

“I thought the Wakandans-”

“There’s a video capture chip in the device so the memories can be replayed on a holographic display. Once we have what we need, we’ll figure out a way to undo the trigger. Any ideas what we could us?”

“The only times I’ve come out of it, it’s been because of Steve.”

The last electrode stuck easily to Bucky’s skin like all the ones before and took away Tony’s reason for avoiding eye contact. “We’ll have Rogers come talk to you after we have what we need.”

“What if the Winter Soldier doesn’t have what you need?”

“Go to plan B. What Hydra did to you is incredibly unique. Most people who agree to do what their captors say either do it because they fear for their life or they develop Stockholm Syndrome. There have been some instances where captors have used a brainwashing method called education, but what Hydra did to you went even further than that. Hydra forced your brain to comply with what they wanted by creating a new entity that blindly obeyed their orders and could be triggered in case your mind ever tried to restore itself.”

“Is it even possible to undo what they did?”

“No idea, but evidence suggests that it is.”

“What evidence? I thought you said this hasn’t been done before.”

“It hasn’t.” The sound of the door sliding open momentarily distracted Tony from placing the device on Barnes’ head, but upon seeing Natasha simply turned his attention back to what he was doing. “I was talking about you. From what I understand, Hydra tried to use electricity to remove any memories that started to surface. If Hydra’s programming were permanent, they wouldn’t have needed to wipe you.”

“There are holes in the programming.”

“That’s one way of putting it. Like I said earlier, the brain isn’t a computer. Hydra couldn’t have just uploaded their virus into your head and turned you into their puppet. Whatever they ended up doing was difficult to accomplish and unstable. They found a way to counteract the instability, but without them here to do it the programming isn’t being reinforced like it needs to be to function correctly.”

“So you think it could all just go away?”

“Possibly. It would take years. If you didn’t have whatever version of the serum Zola injected you with, it would be a different story. Your accelerated healing is probably what has allowed you to fight off the programming as well as you have. People think nervous cells don’t regenerate, but more recent experiments have shown that they do. The problem is that they take a long time to do it.”

A spark of understanding lit up Bucky’s eyes as he tentatively relaxed back into the chair when Natasha started putting the restraints on him. “The accelerated healing is quickening the process.”

“It’s just a theory. One that would be extremely difficult to prove without some very invasive procedures that could possibly kill you.”

“Why bother doing this if my body is healing itself?”

“There could be more to the programming. Triggers words like the ones Zemo used won’t just go away. Understanding how they did it and what they included is important. They could have put more in there than just trigger words.”

“Let’s get this over with then.”

* * *

 

_“Longing.”_

_“Rusted.”_

_“Furnace.”_

_“Daybreak.”_

_“Seventeen.”_

_“Benign.”_

_“Nine.”_

_“Homecoming.”_

_“One.”_

_“Freight Car.”_

_“Asset ready to comply.”_

* * *

 

“It’s him.” The dark sounding words were completely unnecessary because Natasha’s whole body had drawn tight like a bowstring the moment the Winter Soldier came out to play. “You should be able to use English now.”

“Do you know who I am?”

“Stark, Anthony Edward. Son of Howard and Maria Stark. Information on development provided by Hydra agent close to the family. Exhibited talent for engineering from a young age and self-destructive tendencies. Determined too dangerous to be considered for reconditioning after becoming Iron Man. High level threat.”

“Now I don’t even know where to begin.”

A sharp elbow dug as lightly into Tony’s side as it could, while still managing to get his attention. “Just ask him what you need to so we can get to the more difficult part.”

“Alright. A man recently asked you for a mission report on December 16, 1991. What did you tell him?”

“The parameters of the mission.”

“Did he ask for anything else?”

“The purpose of the mission and the return location.”

“What was the purpose of the mission.”

“Obtain the serum samples being transported by Stark, Howard Anthony Walter.” The Winter Soldier’s voice was eerily calm and had an almost robotic quality to it. “All witnesses were to be eliminated.”

“Did you know why he had the samples?”

“It is not the assets place to ask such questions. That information was not necessary for the mission.”

“Do you know who he received them from or where he was taking them?”

“Previous owner of the serum was not important for the mission. Part of mission parameters included preventing Stark from delivering the serum to General Thaddeus Ross. Hydra could not afford a successful version of the serum falling into American military hands.”

Natasha met Tony’s gaze with a raised eyebrow and a slight head tilt that made it clear she wasn’t the least bit surprised. “Did you get what you want?”

“Even if I didn’t, it doesn’t sound like he knows anything else. How do you think we should do this?”

“You’ve done all the questioning so far. Keep going.”

“Fine.” Tony turned back to the Winter Soldier to find him staring intently at him with a completely blank expression on his face. “I need you to recall a memory from when you were being turned into the Winter Soldier.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Exactly what they did to you. Whatever you remember from the experience. Just think about what happened to you and I’ll be able to see it.”

Instead of agreeing to do what Tony asked him to, the Winter Soldier merely closed his eyes and remained completely silent. The room stayed oddly quiet for several minutes, then an elaborate scene abruptly popped up around the Winter Soldier. Several doctors were moving around the Soldier doing a wide variety of things that Tony wasn’t bothering to keep up with. The Winter Soldier was sitting in a chair similar to the one that had already been in the room, but he looked completely different.

He didn’t have a shirt on so his muscular chest was completely bare for all the doctors to poke and prod at. The skin around the metal arm was a vibrant red that made it pretty obvious the arm had been recently attached. Scars hadn’t even had the chance to form where the skin had clearly been damaged beyond proper repair. His hair was much shorter than the shoulder length style he had now, but nowhere near the proper military cut Sergeant Barnes had before the fall.

A man with a face like a mouse appeared from a door somewhere to the side of the scene and immediately shooed away all the people crowded around the chair. “Zola will be disappointed if he finds out we ruined his experiment. Get out of here, you imbeciles.”

The people who were milling around the Winter Soldier all filed out of the room without a single protest. Based on the loud clang that followed the last person leaving, the door was securely locked so the two left inside the room couldn’t get out. Mouse Face picked up a clipboard that one of the other doctors had left behind and started going through whatever was on the attached paper. He made several nasally hums that didn’t give anything away to the completely quiet man still sitting calmly in the middle of the room.

“It seems the electroshock therapy worked better than expected. There were concerns Zola’s previous experimentation might make things more difficult.” The Winter Soldier didn’t have any response to the doctor’s words and continued to stare blankly in front of him. “Do you know your name?”

“The asset has no name.”

“Excellent.”

“What is the asset’s function?”

“To carry out the handler’s orders.”

“Who does the asset belong to?”

“Hydra.”

“Wonderful.” The doctor jotted something down on his clipboard before he addressed the Winter Soldier again. “From now on, you will be known as the Winter Soldier. Until you prove yourself to be loyal to Hydra, you will be training in combat and other necessary areas. Is that understood?”

“Yes.”

The scene around the Winter Soldier abruptly cut out leaving behind the stoic faced version that had been under Hydra’s thumb for years. “Was that what you wanted?”

“It’s not surprising they didn’t automatically add trigger words.” Natasha’s voice was so low it would be hard for even the advanced hearing of a super soldier to pick up. “They thought all they needed to do was wipe out Barnes and they wouldn’t ever have to worry again. The more advanced programming must have happened after they realized their mistake.”

“Can you remember the first time Hydra programmed you with trigger words?”

The Winter Soldier nodded his head minutely and was about to close his eyes once more when the door to the lab suddenly opened. A fully suited up Captain America came striding through the door with a determined look in his eyes that he always got before a fight. What Tony could only assume was a new shield was strapped to Captain America’s arm in preparation for whatever battle he was heading to. His eyes went straight to where Bucky was strapped to the chair then immediately shifted to where Natasha and Tony were standing.

“We have a problem.”

“What kind of problem?” Natasha was already slipping on the Widow Bites she must have been keeping in her pockets just in case something like this happened.

“T’Challa isn’t sure. It could just be the usual invaders trying to steal some Vibranium to sell on the black markets or it could be someone more dangerous.”

“Hydra or Ross?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.”

“It wouldn’t surprise me if Ross decided to follow me here, but I’m not sure he could afford to do something that risky when the Accords are hanging in the balance.” Tony was about to say more when what sounded like a bomb going off shook the room and had the Winter Soldier struggling to get out of his bonds. “We need him to revert back now. He’s dangerous like this.”

“I’ll get the others, Steve get Barnes back, and Tony-”

“I’m getting Rhodey. He’s vulnerable right now unless he managed to get his hands on a gun. I’m sure Vision is already with Wanda.”

“Meet us in our common room. If this ends up being something more than the Wakandans are used to, they might need a helping hand and it will be easier to inform us all at once.”

“If this is Hydra, they might not even know that Barnes is here. They could just be looking for Vibranium to use for weapons and armor. It might be better for you to not fight. T’Challa has made it clear that he plans to fight against Hydra if they decide to attack. It’s completely possible they don’t know you’re here. Giving away your position could get back to Ross.”

Natasha’s face pinched up in agitation, but she nodded her head in agreement anyways. “There’s a network of tunnels running beneath the building that few people know about. We can bunker down there until we know more about the situation.”

“I’ll make sure T’Challa knows. We need to move.”

“Don’t do anything reckless, Stark.”

“Didn’t you hear? I’m not allowed to anymore.”


	5. Steve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve brings Bucky back from the Winter Soldier trigger, decisions are made in the aftermath of the attack on Wakanda, and Steve has a couple of important conversations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was an absolute pain in my butt. I'm going to blame Steve for being difficult. Hopefully I can get the next one out sooner. Thanks for your continued support. Enjoy!

“Hey, Buck.” Steve slowly removed the restraints that were keeping Bucky securely in the chair and carefully kept eye contact with the man as he did so. “Do you know who I am?”

Bucky stared blankly at Steve and appeared to be scoping out the exits without trying to give anything away to Steve. His muscles were completely tense like he was either preparing to attack or to be attacked. The calculating look in his eyes was worrying, but Steve knew he would be able to help Bucky beat the Winter Soldier programming again. Blue eyes followed Steve’s every move as he took several steps back with his hands hanging casually by his sides as a sign of trust.

“Come on, Bucky. You know who I am.”

The sound of people shouting out in the hallway had Steve fighting the urge to pick up his shield and go into battle mode. He knew Tony was right when he said they couldn’t risk giving away their location, especially when it would put T’Challa and his people in danger. That didn’t make sitting on the sidelines any easier, but Steve knew he had to show Tony he trusted the man’s judgement and this was a perfect opportunity. It’s not like Steve could leave Bucky like this anyways, not when someone could take advantage of the programming.

“You’ve got to snap out of this. We need to move. Bucky, you’re stronger than this. You know who I am, don’t you?”

Bucky blinked his eyelids slowly several times like he was trying to clear something out of his vision then focused in on Steve. “What’s going on? Did it work?”

“Sort of. They started to get what they needed, but something happened.”

“What? Did I hurt one of them?”

“No. Of course not. Someone’s attacking Wakanda. We don’t know who, but it could just be some thieves looking to get their hands on some Vibranium to sell.”

“Or it could be Hydra.” Bucky stood up stiffly and glanced cautiously at the door as he assessed their current situation. “What’s the plan? I’m assuming Natasha and Stark are already out there.”

“Tony is. Natasha should be getting the others underground.”

“We’re hiding?”

“Tony thought it would be best so we don’t accidently give away our position. We wouldn’t be the only ones in trouble if someone found out we were here.”

“You mean if Ross found out we were here.”

“There’s a lot at stake here. We need to play it safe for now.”

“Are you sure you can do that? You’re not going to get hives from running away from a fight instead of towards it?”

A fond smile worked its way onto Steve’s face before he could stop himself because he missed hearing Bucky snark at him for getting into trouble. “Are you done now? We need to get going before someone accidently finds us here.”

“Ready when you are. How are we doing this?”

“There’s a set of stairs at the end of the hallway. We’ll take those all the way down to the first floor, then we’re going to have to take an old service elevator down to the lower levels. Most of the hallways we have to go down are lined with windows so it’ll be more difficult, but we should be able to manage it.”

“Lead the way.”

* * *

 

Bucky glanced around the room with a dubious expression, but went to lean against a corner of the room so he had everything in his line of sights anyways. He had purposefully placed himself as far away from Wanda as possible because he was still weary of the psychic. The younger woman didn’t seem at all put off by his suspicious glances at her and was studiously ignoring him in favorite of reading whatever book she had clutched in her hands. Everyone else seemed just as unconcerned about what was going on, but the little things they were doing gave away their faux indifference.

The knife Natasha had in her hands was being flipped endlessly around with deadly precision, while Clint restrung his bow for what was probably the tenth time since they’d come down here. Even Steve’s enhanced eyesight couldn’t pick up on where Scott was, but he could only assume he was trying to corral some of the ants he had been communicating with since they arrived. Sam was standing rigidly in the back of the room with his eyes focused on the door so he would know the moment someone walked in. His arms were crossed firmly over his chest and his face was completely devoid of any emotion.

“Did you guys see anything on the way over here?”

“No much.” Sam’s forcibly relaxed, but Steve could tell he was still wound tight in preparation for an impending battle. “Caught a few glimpses of the Wakandan soldiers. Didn’t see who was attacking or hear anything from the Wakandan soldiers about what they wanted. They seemed prepared to handle it though.”

“This is the only place in the world to get the most expensive and durable metal on the planet. They probably have to be prepared for an attack like this all the time.”

“Hopefully Ross doesn’t use this as an opportunity to stick his nose in T’Challa’s business.”

“As long as the Avengers don’t get involved, he’ll have no reason to. Even if they do, he might not be able to risk his relationship with Wakanda by sticking his nose in their business. Disrespecting one of the countries still backing the Accords could be disastrous.”

Sam stiffly nodded his head and looked over at where Bucky was leaning tensely against the wall. “How is he doing with all of this?”

“As well as he can be. He came out of cryo to have Hydra’s programming removed and in the middle of doing that there’s an attack. Luckily, he came out of Winter Soldier mode easily enough.”

“I imagine the more times he does it, the easier it gets.”

“Hopefully we won’t have to worry about that anymore.”

“I know that you have a lot of faith in Tony’s abilities to figure whatever it is out, but what if there’s not anything that can be done about it? I doubt Hydra was concerned with there being a fix. They probably intended it to be permanent.”

“Until we know for sure there’s nothing we can do, I’m not giving up on him.” Steve looked over at Bucky and wasn’t the least bit surprised to see the other man already watching him with a stony look on his face. “Hydra has had their hold on him long enough. It’s about time he got back what they took from him.”

Before Sam could say anything else a loud knock rang through the room, then T’Challa came strolling into the room looking haggard. The suit he was wearing looked wrinkled in several places and his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. There was a tenseness to his shoulders that had Steve worried, but his face didn’t give anything away other than the obvious stress he was under. He waved away Clint’s concern with a firm hand, then gave a wry smile in response to Clint’s continued worry.

“The matter has been dealt with. If you come with me, we can discuss what happened and I can answer any questions you have. Mr. Stark, Colonel Rhodes, and Vision are already in the usual conference room. There is something I must take care of quickly before I meet you there.”

* * *

 

“It could have been a recon mission. Fake a botched attempt at stealing Vibranium, then take all the information they get on the Wakandan defenses back so they can plan an actual attack.” Clint was twisting an arrow between his fingers so quickly it looked more like a blur than an arrow. “They could be planning a new attack right now.”

“After an attack like this, my people always increase the defences in case any others think they can take advantage of us when we are seemingly vulnerable. We will be prepared if they decide to attack a second time.” King T’Challa turned his attention to where Tony, Rhodey, and Vision were sitting quietly together. “I assume Secretary Ross has already asked for a report on what occurred and whether you had any involvement.”

“Of course, I told him I’d give him a full report when I get back tomorrow.”

“What? I thought you agreed to help Barnes out, Stark.”

“I did and I have. Natasha knows what to do now and I’ve already offered to teach some of Wakanda’s finest how to work my device. Once I’m done with that, I need to head back to New York. There are things I need to do.”

Natasha, who didn’t look the least bit surprised by Tony’s words, kept her eyes completely focused on Tony as she spoke. “Be careful where you poke around. Ross isn’t going to be forgiving if he finds out you’re looking into whatever he was keeping secret back then. He’ll find a reason to put you away for good.”

“I’m well aware of that. Hopefully, most of what I need is in one of the many dusty boxes I’ve had in storage for twenty-five years. If they end up needing my help for anything, T’Challa knows how to get in contact with me. Unless you need me for something else, I should get to the labs so I have plenty of time to train them.”

“Can we talk in private?” Bucky shuffled uncomfortably in his seat as everyone in the room turned their attention to him. “It won’t take long.”

“Sure. I need to talk to you about what happened anyways. Two birds, one stone or something like that.”

“Great.”

Bucky followed closely on Tony’s heels out of the conference room and made sure the door was closed firmly behind them. The curious look on Natasha’s face had Steve raising an eyebrow in her direction, but she shook her head and turned her attention back to T’Challa. The king started detailing some of the typical increases in security the Wakandan military put into place after attacks on their country. The familiar topic was enough to distract Steve from wondering about whatever Bucky and Tony were talking about.

“My troops are going to continue scouring the area to see if they left behind anything that might give us a better idea of who they are. I do not wish you to feel imprisoned here, but it might be in your best interest to stay where prying eyes will be less likely to see you until we have a better hold on the situation.”

“We wouldn’t want to put you or your people at risk. If Ross finds out you’re hiding us here, all of you could be in danger.” Steve paused for a second to gauge everyone’s reactions before he continued to speak. “We’ll do whatever you think is best.”

“That is much appreciated. It is nice to have one less thing to worry about. The transition has not been easy.”

“Anything we can do to make it easier, we will. Just let us know if you need any help.”

“I will be sure to keep that in mind. If you will all excuse me, I must go speak with my military officials. The moment I have any pertinent information, I will inform you immediately.”

“Thank you.”

“You are most welcome, Captain Rogers.”

* * *

 

The door to Tony’s room was cracked open just enough that Steve could see light slipping out into the hallway. Steve took a deep, calming breath as he continued towards the door and started to feel a bit better when he couldn’t hear anyone else in the room. All that reached Steve’s ears was the familiar sound of Tony messing with something metallic that the man probably brought with him so he would have something to keep him busy and the steady inhale and exhale of air. It wasn’t hard for Steve to imagine Tony bent over whatever it was with a look of concentration on his face, while his hands moved gracefully to complete his project. The aching feeling in his chest gave a sharp throb at having Tony so physically close, but so emotionally out of reach.

Several soothing breathes later, Steve finally felt put together enough to knock on the door and wait patiently for Tony to answer. A shadow fell over the light as Tony crossed the room in a couple of strides before opening the door all the way. His brown eyes bore into Steve’s own with an intensity that Steve was convinced no other person on the planet could possibly get close to having. They were the only things that ever gave the man away whenever he tried to hide behind his flippant, sarcastic attitude. Steve had first experienced the raw emotion that could show through those eyes on the helicarrier and had been fascinated by them ever since. Every attempt at drawing them had fallen flat, especially now that Steve was looking directly at them.

“Rogers?”

“Sorry. I hope I’m not disturbing you.”

“I was just working on a project for SI. Was there something you needed?”

“I thought we should talk before you leave.”

Tony’s jaw tightened like he wanted to refuse, but he stepped aside anyways and closed the door the moment Steve was completely over the threshold. For a second Tony looked like his was about to say something, then he abruptly turned around and went back to where he must have been sitting earlier. His hands flexed like he wanted to pick back up the thing sitting on the table, but he fought the urge and crossed his arms over his chest instead. Steve moved to sit tentatively on the edge of the chair across from Tony and rested his hands in his lap in the hopes the gesture would put Tony more at ease.

“This is the part where you start talking.”

“Right. I want to apologize again for not telling you while I had the chance about your parents. You shouldn’t have found out that way.”

“Anything else?”

Steve looked down at his hands so he had a second to get his thoughts together without Tony’s piercing gaze looking through him. “I wanted to ask you what you’re looking into.”

“I don’t owe you an explanation, Rogers.”

“Believe me, I know and obviously you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“Obviously.” Tony let out a heavy sigh and ran a hand through his hair causing patches of it to stick up in random directions. “The only reason I’m going to tell you is because I think it has something to do with why Ross was so determined to bring you and Barnes in. Do you know what was in that suitcase the night The Winter Soldier killed my parents?”

“The serum that was used to create the super soldiers we found in Russia. What does that have to do with Ross?”

“Barnes let me ask him a few questions while he was triggered. Apparently, part of his orders for that night included making sure the serum didn’t get to its destination.”

“Ross.”

“It’s not exactly a secret that Ross was interested in finding a way to recreate Erskine’s formula. How do you think Bruce became the Hulk? He was working for Ross at the time to create a new formula. The government ended up shutting the research down after what happened in Harlem. They said it was too big of a risk.”

“But you think Ross is still interested in it.”

“Ross isn’t the kind of man that just gives up on something because someone tells him no. Plus, he’s a soldier through and through. What better way to optimize the US military, than to have everyone injected with super soldier serum?”

Steve shifted his body backwards so he was actually sitting comfortably in the chair instead of being stiffly on the edge. “Wouldn’t they fall under the Accords?”

“I’m sure Ross has something worked in there about supers under government organizations not falling under the Accords jurisdiction. I’ll have to take a closer look when I get back.”

“Why would Colonel Rhodes need to sign it then?”

“Rhodey’s spent more time working with the Avengers, than he has with the American government recently. At this point, I think it’s pretty well known that he’s a member of the Avengers before he’s a member of the military.”

“The American military would become a powerhouse.”

“There wouldn’t be a single country that could go up against the US and the Accords would have our hands tied if they decided to do something quickly before we could get the permission we need to stop them.” A dark look passed over Tony’s face one second, then disappeared the next. “If Ross gets his hands on the super soldier serum, he could become more of a problem than Hydra. That’s why I need to figure out who Howard got the serum from.”

“You think there might be more.”

“It’s a concern. I doubt Ross knows or he would have gotten his serum by now, but it’s entirely possible that Hydra might know. They’re most likely the ones that created the formula that Howard had.”

“Zola was dead by then.”

“Doesn’t mean the science died with him. It could have been a protégé he passed it down to or one of the scientists working with him got their hands on it and took it. Plenty of people would be willing to pay millions for that information.”

Steve rubbed his forehead to get rid of the creases he could feel developing just from having to think about what having the serum mass produced could mean. “Natasha is right. You need to be extremely careful. People have spent decades trying to get their hands on the serum.”

“I’m perfectly aware of that. Kind of hard to forget.”

“You still have the phone right.”

“That archaic, monstrosity you sent me along with the cheesy letter?”

“Yes, Tony. That phone.”

“It’s sitting in a drawer in my desk.”

“Keep it on you. The minute you think someone might be after you, call me. Promise me.”

“Shouldn’t you say please?” Tony stood up from his seat and started heading towards the door with the obvious intention of seeing Steve out. “Just because I’m agreeing to this doesn’t mean I forgive you. I need to make sure someone is going to follow up on this if something happens and Rhodey and Vision can’t risk doing anything. I’ll call.”

“Be careful.”

“No promises. Keep an eye on Barnes. It might take a while for them to get everything they need out of him to determine everything Hydra did. There’s no telling what triggering the Winter Soldier frequently could do to him. I’m sure Natasha will be keeping an eye on him, but you know him the best. You’ll be able to notice if he starts to act strangely faster than the others.”

“Thank you so much for all of your help.”

“Yeah, well. I didn’t do it for you.”

The door to Tony’s room clicked shut in Steve’s face and left him staring blankly at the closed door for longer than he would ever admit to. Even though he wanted to, Steve knew better than to knock on Tony’s door when the other man clearly didn’t want to talk to him anymore. Instead of knocking on the door again, Steve spun around and headed back down the hallway with no destination in mind.

* * *

 

“Natasha mentioned you might be up here.” A dark figure managed to swing up next to Steve without any trouble, despite their missing arm. “I remember you used to sit up on the rooftop of our apartment building and draw whenever you were feeling down. It drove me crazy. You always got sick afterwards.”

“Can’t get sick anymore.”

“I’d be dragging you in by your ear if you could.”

“Might be kind of hard.”

“I’d make it work.”

The corner of Bucky’s mouth slipped up in a ghost of a smile, but it disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared. “How are you doing?”

“Still worried about Hydra’s hold on me, but the Wakandan scientists seem to think they’ll be able to retrace Hydra’s steps and figure out how they programmed me with those trigger phrases. Stark thinks it will be a long process, but it’s entirely within the realm of possibility to undo it. His words.”

“Is that what you wanted to talk to Tony about?”

“That and a few other things.” Bucky leaned casually against Steve’s side like he used to when they were stuck in their Brooklyn apartment because it was too cold to go outside without Steve immediately coming down with at least three different illnesses. “Is that why you’re up here? You didn’t come back after you went to go talk to him.”

“Sorry. I needed some time to get my thoughts together.”

“Thoughts about what?”

“Some of the things Tony said. The reason he’s going back.”

“Hydra will come after him. He’s separated from the rest of you and poses a high threat to their operations, especially now that he knows about his parents. Ross isn’t the only one that’s going to keep a close eye on him.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time Tony’s dealt with people coming after him.”

“Doesn’t mean it will be easy.”

With a heavy sigh, Steve shut his sketchbook and turned his eyes to the Wakandan jungle so he couldn’t be distracted by the dark lines on the page. “When has any of this ever been easy? I think the easy stopped the day Erskine decided I was the one who should get the serum.”

“I don’t know about that. I’m pretty sure I remember you spending quite a bit of time as a showgirl after the serum.”

“Weird. I think you’re confusing me with someone else.”

“Pretty sure I’m not. Plus, your biggest fanboy was more than willing to clear up some of the things I wasn’t so sure about. He knew quite a lot about you.”

“Everyone seems to know who Captain America is now. I’m not so sure that’s a good thing though.”

“Why? ‘Cause you made a mistake?” The weight at Steve’s side got the slightest bit heavier as Bucky leaned his body even further onto Steve. “Everyone makes mistakes, even Captain America. It’s about time everybody realized that.”

“I should have told him.”

“Can’t go back and change anything. It’s too late for that. All you can do is move forward and make up for the wrong you did. The fact the two of you can be in a room together without things coming to physical blows is a good sign.”

“Do you blame me?”

“For what?”

“What happened to you. For falling off the train. For not saving you from Hydra.”

A contemplative look slipped over Bucky’s face like he had never bothered to even think about Steve’s part in him being taken by Hydra a second time. “Of course not. I told you that I was with you ‘til the end of the line, punk. I followed you because I believed in you. I knew what the risks were when I agreed to follow your lead. I don’t blame you for any of it, but I’m guessing you do.”

“I should have come back for you. Even if it was just… Just to collect the body. You were the only family I had left.”

“There was a war going on. You had bigger things to do than hunt down a body.”

Steve looked down at where his hands were clenched painfully on his thighs while he let what Bucky said sink in. He could still remember with an almost cruel clarity the days following what he had believed to be Bucky’s death. All of his anger and pain had been redirected so Steve could focus on taking out the people responsible and not the crippling sadness that had been threatening to take over. Going down in the Valkyrie had seemed almost ironic at the time considering how people had always joked the two were like peas in a pod. What one would do, the other would always do the same.

“After I woke up, I used to see all of this amazing new technology and just think about how much you would have loved it. There were a few times I had to stop myself from turning to see what you thought about it because I forgot you weren’t there. It was like I was missing a piece of myself and I didn’t have anything to take my mind off of it.”

“Looks like you found something pretty great.”

“We didn’t work very well together at first. We were just a bunch of people Fury threw together as a team in the hopes we’d be able to do something great. It took one of us dying for the rest of us to figure it out. After that we went our separate ways, but I don’t know… I guess fighting an alien invasion together makes a pretty strong bond.”

“So how’d you figure out you were head over heels for the mouthy brunette?”

“Am I really that obvious?”

A chuckled worked its way out of Bucky’s throat and even though it sounded worn from disuse, there was a familiarity to it that settled Steve. “Doubt it. My memories might not be the best, but I still have some pretty clear ones of you around Peggy. You’ve got a bit of a type.”

“Shut up, jerk.”

“Just call it like I see it, punk.”

“Whatever you say. We should get back inside. It’s not a good idea for us to be out here long.”

“Right.” The art supplies Steve had been using were shoved into the small backpack Bucky had moved so he could sit down next to him and pushed back into Steve’s hands. “It might not seem like it now, but I think the two of you could still make it work. When you’re finally on the same side of the world as each other again and can work through your issues.”

“Pretty big issues to work through.”

“People have come back to each other after worse. It just depends how hard you’re willing to work for it. The Steve I remember never backed down from a fight. Can’t imagine that’s changed any. Just something to think about.”


	6. Tony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony, Rhodey, and Vision return from Wakanda, deal with Ross, and Tony looks for information on the past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually had this almost finished last night, but then I kept seeing random colors popping up on the screen and I had to stop. Hope you all enjoy!

The weight that had been slowly building in Tony’s chest since he first arrived in Wakanda started to alleviate the moment T’Challa’s private jet lifted off the runway. His hands slowly unclenched from where they had been gripping the seat’s armrest hard enough to leave finger shaped indents in the material. Out of the corner of his eye, Tony could see Vision staring, what could only be described as, longingly out the window. There was no doubt in Tony’s mind that the android was the only one that didn’t want to leave Wakanda and it had everything to do with a certain young woman.

A sharp elbow into Tony’s ribs had him turning his attention away from Vision and to a concerned looking Rhodey. He tipped his head in Vision’s direction with one eyebrow raised in question, but Tony just shook his head in response. Neither of them knew the first thing about comforting an android, if an android could even be comforted. Rhodey’s mouth dipped into a frown, but he didn’t make a move towards the forlorn looking android.

“You’re looking better. Less like you’re about to punch the next person that tries to talk to you.”

“Feel less like it, too.” Tony relaxed further into the seat as the jet leveled out to cruising altitude and gradually started putting more and more distance between them and Wakanda. “How are you holding up? I noticed you and Sam had a little conversation before we left.”

“We came to an understanding.”

“Did you do the secret Air Force bros handshake to make it official?”

“For the last time, there is no secret Air Force bros handshake.”

“Then why don’t I believe you?”

Rhodey rolled his eyes at the familiar banter and fought down the urge to laugh at Tony’s ridiculous personality shining through. “Because you’re determined to be an annoying little pain in my side.”

“If I didn’t know you loved me, I’d be more concerned.”

“Whatever helps you sleep better at night, Tones.”

“Your concern for my wellbeing makes my heart feel all warm and gooey.” The sight of Rhodey rubbing unconsciously at his legs had Tony suddenly feeling more worried than he had in the past couple of days. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Just a little tingling. The doctors said that might happen. It’s fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive. How about you tell me what your plan is when we get back? It wouldn’t surprise me if Ross is waiting for us at the airport.”

“I’m counting on him being there. He’ll want to make sure I’m not in a comfortable space and that I feel ambushed after a long, tiring flight. If he thinks he has the upper hand, he’s less likely to think I’m flat out lying to him about what went on in Wakanda. Of course he’ll never assume that I’m completely telling him the truth, but the less suspicion I draw to myself the better.”

“How are you going to throw off the tail he’s undoubtedly going to put on you for the next couple of days to make sure your trip to Wakanda wasn’t some ploy to bring him down?”

“I’d call him paranoid, but that is what I’m doing and I’m not worried about whatever tail he decides to put on me. All the people he has working for him are idiots. I’ve worked with trained assassins that actually know how to do their job. Ditching his tails is child plays.”

The heavy sigh that Rhodey let out had Tony grinning cheekily in response. “How are you going to get to Howard’s stuff without Ross finding out? I’m sure he can get a hold of any camera footage in the city. You won’t be able to get into your storage unit without Ross knowing about it.”

“Good thing I moved everything out of storage.”

“When did you do that?”

“After SHIELD dumped a couple boxes of his stuff off with me that ended up saving my life, I thought it might be a good idea to get the rest of it out of storage in case he had anything else important that I didn’t know about.”

“Why haven’t you gone through any of it?”

“Haven’t needed to or wanted to.”

“So if they’re not in storage, where are they?”

“Well…” Tony took a sip out of the water he had brought with him to stall having to tell Rhodey the more troublesome part of his plan. “I didn’t want to risk keeping them somewhere people would think to look without doing lots of difficult digging first.”

“So not the tower or the compound. You wouldn’t keep them at any of the SI branches. Please tell me they’re not stored in a secret bungalow on some private island in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle.”

“That would be ridiculous even for me.”

“Where are you keeping it then?”

“At the mansion.”

“Damn.”

* * *

 

The feeling of the jet’s wheels touching down on the tarmac made Tony groan in anticipation for the awful conversation Ross would immediately want to have. His back popped uncomfortably as he stood up from his seat and he offered Rhodey a hand that the other man waved away. While Rhodey was busy slowly pushing himself out of his seat, Vision motioned for Tony to take a look out of the window by his seat. It didn’t take Tony long to figure out what Vision wanted him to see considering Ross was standing out in the open with several figures dressed in black with sunglasses on.

“It’s good to know that Ross is as predictable as ever. Does any of his entourage look familiar?”

“I do not recognize any of them from the files we have compiled.”

“Well, at least Ross pretends to trust us enough to bring a bunch of no names to guard him.”

“Or it is his hubris showing.” Vision closed the window shade so they could no longer see Ross waiting for them to come out. “We should not keep him waiting. He will become more difficult to please the longer we wait.”

“You’re right about that. Let’s get this over with.”

The Wakandan stewardess gave them a kind smile as they got off the plane then shut the door behind them with a heavy thud. Ross was already strolling towards them with his shoulders set in determination and a false smile on his face. He was dressed in a slight wrinkled suit that made it quite obvious he had more than likely spent the day in countless meetings. Tony could easily use the man’s more exhausted state to his advantage if he started to ask questions that would lead Tony into a trap.

“How are things in Wakanda?”

“Not even a hello. Good to see you, too.”

“I didn’t come to exchange pleasantries and I’m sure you all would like to get back to the compound. Now, what’s the situation in Wakanda?”

“They were attacked and they handled it.”

“Attacked by who?”

“No idea. Probably some smugglers. They took care of it and I didn’t ask. It’s not my business.”

“So none of you took part in defending the city during the attack?”

“We weren’t there to fight and it would be an insult to the Wakandan people to assume they can’t defend their country on their own.” Tony watched as Ross’ eyes narrowed at Tony’s words and his mouth started to turn down in a frown. “Was there something else you wanted? Intel on Wakandan military strategies? Information on their tech?”

“Watch your tone with me, Stark. An attack on Wakanda could mean an attack on the US. It’s important to know what’s happening with our allies.”

“Then why didn’t you ask King T’Challa for details on the attack. If he’s your ally, I’m sure he’d be more than willing to answer any of your questions. Unless you’re suggesting you can’t trust your allies to tell you the truth.”

The sound of Ross grinding his teeth together in frustration could practically be heard over the sound of a plane taking off. “Of course not. I’ll be sure to get in touch with King T’Challa about what happened. What about your business in Wakanda?”

“Funnily enough, SI business doesn’t fall under the Accords so I’m not obligated to tell you anything.”

“If it was strictly business, then why did Vision and Lieutenant Rhodes accompany you?”

“King T’Challa invited them to visit and they accepted. It really would have been rude of them to decline. Was there something important you actually had to ask me or is that all?”

“I don’t appreciate you wasting my time.”

“Wasting your time? I told you everything I know. If anyone’s time is being wasted, it’s mine. So unless you having something pressing you need me for, I’m leaving.”

“Don’t think this means I won’t be keeping a close eye on you. You can hide behind your lies all you want, but I will find out what you’re hiding from me.” Ross took a step closer so he was invading Tony’s space and towering over the shorter man. “It would be in your best interest to remember that conversation we had before your sudden disappearance to Wakanda.”

“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.”

* * *

 

“He made a clear threat to you out in the open. Obviously he isn’t concerned with people overhearing what he said to you. What exactly did he threaten you with?”

“Oh, you know. The usual. He threatened to throw me in jail.”

“Jail or the Raft?”

“Does it really matter?”

Rhodey let out a heavy sigh and took a seat across from Tony’s desk so he could look the other man directly in the eye. “Of course it matters. You really think you have any hope of getting out if Ross gets the chance to throw you in the Raft? He’ll do whatever he can to make sure you stay locked up for good.”

“That’s because he thinks I’m the only one who can take him down.”

“You are the only one who can take him down. You have power and money and, as long as the other Avengers are free, you have powerful allies on your side. You’re the biggest threat to him.”

“Not to mention the genius level IQ and the fact he was working with Howard on something he would probably prefer to stay secret.”

“Why are you so convinced whatever he was working on with Howard is so important? Howard probably did thousands of contracts for the government.”

“Contracts that had to do with weapons and equipment. The super soldier serum doesn’t exactly fall under either of those categories and all Howard even had to do with Project Rebirth was creating the Vita-Ray machine.”

“He was still Ross’ best chance at figuring out how the formula worked and how to recreate it. It wasn’t exactly a secret that Howard continued his search for the Valkyrie.”

“I’m honestly surprised he didn’t go after SHIELD after they thawed Rogers out of the ice.” Tony drummed his fingers thoughtfully against the surface of the desk. “They didn’t manage to keep the fact they found him a secret for very long. It was kind of hard to miss them having to ambush him in the middle of Time Square.”

“SHIELD might have been a secret organization, but they had a lot of power in the government. Getting to Rogers probably wasn’t an option until he took them down, then it was a matter of figuring out the best way to do it.”

“He won’t give up until he gets what he wants. He’s been working on a way to get the serum for years. Not knowing where Rogers is won’t stop him.”

“If he gets proof that you know where he is or that he can use you to draw him out, you know he will.”

“Good thing he won’t be finding out.”

“He will if he sees you visiting the Stark Mansion. I’m pretty sure most people think you’ve either sold the place or forgotten about it completely.”

With a little smirk on his face, Tony pulled up one of the holographic displays he had built into his desk and turned what was pulled up towards Rhodey so he could see it better. “According to public record, I don’t own the place.”

“When did you do this?”

“Stane did it after I told him I would rather sleep in a gutter, than go back there. When I went through his stuff after he died, I found a few false identities that he’d been operating under and one of them held the contract for the mansion. Since SHIELD made all that information disappear, I knew the place would either remain untouched or I’d find a way to use it to my advantage one day.”

“So you stored all Howard’s stuff there.”

“Like you said, most people think I sold it. It’s not somewhere they would think to look.”

“That’s great and all, but how are you going to get in without Ross finding out. Vision said he’s got at least three of his men keeping an eye on the compound.” Rhodey crossed his arms over his chest and leaned further back in the chair. “They’re going to notice if you decide to take a trip to New York.”

“Good thing one of the SI branches is based out of New York. Won’t be hard to lose them once I’m inside. Happy’s badge policy has its perks sometimes.”

“You better know what you’re doing. Vision and I won’t be there to help you if they catch on to what you’re doing. It’ll look suspicious if we go with you.”

“I could send out a memo that it’s bring your Avengers to work day.”

“Well unless you send that memo to Ross, I think they’d still find it suspicious.”

“Your loss.”

* * *

 

It ended up taking Tony all of five minutes to lose all three of the tails Ross had sent after him to keep a close eye on him. Tony ended up staying in R&D for an hour to review some of the branch’s latest projects so him randomly showing up out of the blue didn’t seem suspicious. He disappeared off to one of the extra upper offices under the guise of having paperwork he might as well do while at the office. Getting out of the office ended up being even easier than expected and it took him almost no time at all to get to the mansion.

The mansion looked exactly the same as it had the last time Tony had been there except for the thick layers of dust covering everything and the covers over all the furniture. Pepper had been the one to oversee the move of all of Howard’s possessions so Tony didn’t have to come back to his childhood home. It seemed almost surreal to be standing in a place he hadn’t been to in twenty-five years because of all of the memories it held. His feet carried him to the front room without him having to even think about it and to the many boxes that Howard’s stuff had been packed away in.

“I’m suddenly wishing I had the foresight to label these.” Tony dropped the backpack he had brought with him on the floor and pulled out the pair of scissors he packed. “This is going to take way too long.”

The first couple of boxes had nothing in them except scraps of junk that were probably the beginnings of whatever projects Howard had been working on at the time. The third one was full of books that all had excessively long titles and were undoubtedly full of incorrect information. Nothing even remotely interesting had been packed into the fifth or sixth boxes much to Tony’s frustration. Another stack of books was the last thing Tony wanted to see when he managed to open up the seventh box until he took a closer look at them.

All of them were nondescript, leather-bound journals filled with familiar scratchy writing and long equations. The first journal that Tony flipped through had several pages that were full of detailed schematics for some of SI’s earliest weapons. Tony sat down on the ground next to the box so he could go through all the journals while relatively comfortable. He was about to start in on the next journal when the sound of the door to the room opening had Tony whipping his attention to whoever opened it.

“You would have been shot already if I wanted to kill you.”

“Good thing you don’t want to then. Shouldn’t you be busy working for the FBI now?”

“It’s the CIA and I just finished up an assignment. We do get a break between missions.” The blonde stepped further into the room and eyed the already opened boxes that Tony had shoved to the side earlier. “What are you doing here?”

“Going through Howard’s stuff. Why are you here?”

“I was going to that bakery you used to take me to every time we came to visit when I noticed someone sneaking in here. I thought you might be a robber. The hoodie was pretty suspicious.”

“What a Good Samaritan. Did you call the police to let them know?”

“I’m more than capable of taking care of the situation.”

“So no. Any reason you’re still here?”

“You look like you need some help.”

Tony looked at the boxes he still had left to look through then turned his attention back to where Sharon was leaning against the doorframe. “Maybe. Have anywhere you need to be today? This might take a while.”

“You owe me a chocolate éclair.”

“One of these days, you’ll figure out that chocolate éclairs aren’t the only pastry out there.”

“I know that, but it’s the best one. We have a deal?”

“Deal.” Tony handed over one of the journals he’d been about to go through after Sharon took a seat next to him on the floor. “Let me know if you see anything that has to do with the super soldier serum or Ross.”

“Howard worked with Ross?”

“Intel from the Winter Soldier points to that being the case. It might explain why Ross was so determined to make sure he got either one or both of them into custody.”

“We better get going then. I don’t want to spend one of the few nights I have off doing more work.”

“Then getting reading.”

* * *

 

“If I have to read one more page detailing the pros and cons of different contracts, I’m going to repulsor my own foot off.”

“We must be getting closer.” Sharon placed the journal she had been reading on a stack next to her of ones she had already gone through. “A lot of these journals mention things that happened in the late 80’s or early 90’s. Whichever box has the last of these has to be the one that has the information we need.”

“If Howard even bothered to write it down.”

“It looks like he wrote everything else down.”

“And it’s all information that I could have gotten by going through the SI records. He might not have written down whatever secret deal he had with Ross. Plausible deniability or whatever you call it.”

“Maybe we should be looking through his desk for false drawers.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me if he did have some, but I’m sure they’re all filled with alcohol.”

Sharon shook he head as she opened up another journal then wrinkled her face up in confusion at whatever she saw. “This might be it. It’s not written in English.”

“Let me see. That’s French and that’s Italian and that part is Japanese and that is Spanish. Clearly he wanted to make reading this as difficult as possible.”

“I know a little French and Spanish. The others I couldn’t even begin to translate.”

“Good thing I know all of them.”

“This is all you then.”

“Fun.” Tony scanned the first few pages before finding something that actually caught his eye for more than a few seconds. “Looks like he was working with Ross.”

“What’s it say?”

“He decided their partnership would be beneficial for both of them. Something about it giving him stronger ties with the military and possibly getting him funding for his excavation trips.”

“For when he was trying to find Steve.”

“Those are the only excavation trips he ever went on. There’s a bunch of pages dedicated to how to mass produce the Vita-Ray machines so multiple soldiers could be done at once. He mentions researching different geneticists and biochemists that were at the top of their field at the time. He decided none of them would be able to recreate Erskine’s formula so he put out some feelers to see if someone in the more unsavoury crowd might be able to do it.”

“Did he find someone?”

Tony quickly flipped further in the journal so he didn’t have to continue reading Howard’s ridiculously long winded paragraphs. “Of course he did. The Winter Soldier took it after he killed Howard and my mother. He had to have gotten it from somewhere. Here it is. Some ex-Hydra scientist that worked with Zola while he was experimenting on the one-oh-seventh.”

“Why does that matter?”

“I’m surprised Peggy didn’t tell you or that SHIELD doesn’t have it in their files. Captain America’s first mission was going behind enemy lines to break the one-oh-seventh out of a Hydra base because guess who was in that unit.”

“Barnes.”

“Ding, ding, ding. Which is important because Barnes wasn’t with the rest of the unit in the cells. Zola took him and did experiments on him. Considering what the Red Skull was after, it isn’t exactly difficult to figure out what he was trying to do.”

“Recreate the serum.”

“Which he must have done since Barnes fell off a high speed train and all he lost was an arm before Hydra got to him.”

“So a Hydra scientist working with Zola could have known, but I doubt Zola was the type to let people lower than him have vital information. At least before he died that is.”

“Hydra finds out from some source, probably Stane, that Howard is working with Ross to recreate the serum. They’re looking for a way to get rid of him anyways so they use it as an opportunity to start up their experiments again and finally remove someone that could bring their organization down.”

“Meanwhile, Howard has no idea that Zola continued Hydra and uploaded his consciousness on a database that Hydra could access. He gives them the serum and continues what he’d been working on from the beginning.”

“Ross never gets his serum.” The journal Tony had been holding shut with a sharp snap before he set it down on the closest relatively flat surface. “Hydra uses the serum on the people we found in Siberia and it ends up being a failure so they shove them in cryo and leave them there.”

“That’s not going to be enough to incriminate Ross.”

“The fact I now have proof that Ross was going behind the government’s back for this is a good start. There has to be a reason he decided not to go through the normal channels for a partnership like this. He was already a general by this point. The government would have let him have his little side project like they did later.”

“We’re most likely dealing with something unethical then. Forcing test subjects or wanting to speed things up by avoiding all the paperwork that would come with an experiment like this.”

“I’ll have to take a closer look at this. Howard never did any projects halfway if he was really invested in them. He was probably already considering the next steps they would take after they got their hands on the serum.”

“Howard and Stane are dead and Ross isn’t going to tell you anything. Where else are you going to be able to get the proof you need that Ross has ulterior motives if that journal doesn’t have enough information?”

“There’s one person that’s close to Ross who might be able to tell me something helpful and they haven’t talked to him in years so I don’t have to worry about them telling him anything.”

A sarcastic laugh slipped through Sharon’s lips and she gave Tony a look that reminded him of Peggy so much it hurt. “You must be joking. Ross would have you thrown in jail before you could even get close.”

“That might be true, but it’d be worth the risk.”

“You’re determined to do this, aren’t you?”

“Unless you have a better suggestion, it’s the best bet I have at taking Ross down.”

“Fine. My next assignment is in Arizona. Last I heard, she’s been teaching at a college near where I’ll be on assignment. I’ll stop by for a visit and see what she knows.”

“Ross might be keeping an eye on you. He knows you and Rogers are friends.”

“Like I said earlier, I can take care of myself. I’m not a little girl anymore.”

“Peggy would be proud of you.”

“She’d be proud of you, too. Now let’s get out of here. I always hated this place.”

“Join the club.” Tony grabbed his backpack off the floor and shoved Howard’s journal into it before he zipped it up. “I’ve got to get back to SI so those idiots Ross has tailing me don’t realize I left. Be careful in Arizona and here’s some money for that éclair.”

“Tell Colonel Rhodes I say hello and I hope he’s doing well.”

“I’ll make sure to pass along the message. Stay out of trouble.”

“I will if you do.”

“Guess we’ll both just have to be careful then.”

“Guess so.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to let you all know that I've finally gotten a Tumblr. You can send me questions or prompt requests. Hope you all have a great weekend! sociallyawkwardfoxwriter.tumblr.com/


End file.
